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Scabies Symptoms and Signs

Symptoms occur from two to six weeks to appear after exposure. Symptoms include severe and continuous itching, especially at night. An indication that you may have scabies is if other members of your household are experiencing the same symptoms.

• What do scabies look like? The skin may show signs of small insect-type bites, or the lesions may look like pimples. The skin may also be red or have sores due to scratching of the area. Open scabs or sores are susceptible to infection with bacteria. A burrow (a short S-shaped track that indicates the mite's movement under the skin) may also be visible. The average affected person has only five to 10 mites on their body at a time. Burrows may be small enough to be overlooked. Thus, scabies also should be considered whenever there is intense itching without an obvious rash, bite, or burrow.
• Scabies frequently occur in the crevasses of the body such as between the fingers and toes, the buttocks, the elbows, the waist area, the genital area, and under the breasts in women. The face, neck, palms, soles and lips are usually not affected, except in infants or very young children.
• In crusted (Norwegian) scabies, the body is covered with a thick, dry, and scaly rash. The rash of crusted scabies may or may not itch, but it contains thousands to millions of mites. Crusted scabies is the most contagious form of scabies and the hardest to treat.
• Many other skin rashes may look like scabies including allergic drug reactions, contact dermatitis, and viral rashes such as shingles.