Suggest Treatment For Scabies

Posted on Fri, 14 Nov 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 14 Nov 2014 Answered on

Mon, 8 Dec 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : Hallo. My son was diagnosed as having scabies today. He has had itching for some time and little red bumps on his skin which we at first thought were flea bites as we have a cat. However our cat was completely clear, before going to the doctor we tried various creams with no success, and we were referred to a dermatologist today who told us it was scabies. He has been prescribed 2 types of cream, one which is applied at night and is washed off in the morning, which he has to repeat in a weeks time and the other which is used twice a day. There is a lot of conflicting information as to how scabies can be passed on. Clarification please. Should all members of family be treated even if without symptoms?

Answered by Dr. Ivo Ditah (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Yes, all family memebers should be treated!

Detailed Answer:
Hi and thank you so much for this query.

All family members need to be treated. Also, washing, disinfecting and ironing of all linen should be strongly considered. If this is impossible, I will advise that you put all linen in an air tight plastic for a minimum of 48hours. This is the best way to make sure that it is sent away from the household. Other family members without symptoms simply need to use the infectoscab as recommended on the two occasions.

I hope this helps. I wish you well. Thank you so much for using our services and feel free to ask for more information and clarifications if need be.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar