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Biology of Sarcoptes scabiei and Its Relevance to Human Scabies: Clinical Symptoms, Treatment, and Management

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Scabies

Abstract

Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis is a mite with an oval tortoise-like-shaped body bearing four pairs of legs. Human scabies starts when a fertilized female mite bores in the stratum corneum and starts burrowing horizontally and laying eggs. The trail of this female mite is known as the scabies burrow. This is a whitish scaly linear lesion, often found in between the fingers and on the creases of the hands. The entering side of the burrow may form a V-shaped scale resembling the wake behind a swimming bird (wake sign). The egg hatches in a few days, giving rise to a larva. The larva then leaves the burrow, shelters in another place, molts, giving rise to a nymph, and moves to another place. The same process is repeated until it matures into an adult. After a month of incubation period, itchy red papules appear where initially the immature mites stayed, due to a delayed sensitivity cell-mediated immune reaction to the mites and their products. This reaction may come in various forms, presenting skin lesions mimicking other skin diseases. Currently available scabicide can kill mobile stages of the mites but not the eggs. Two doses 1 week apart are therefore used for treatment.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the contribution of Dr. Mohammad Akhoundi, Parasitologie-Mycologie Department, Universite Paris 13, France, for literature search and suggestions, and Dr. Yasuo Wada, Head of Department of Dermatology, Ako City Hospital, Japan, for providing invaluable images of Sarcoptes scabiei.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department Tropical Medicine, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Rie R. Yotsu

  2. Department of Dermatology, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Rie R. Yotsu

  3. School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan

    Rie R. Yotsu

  4. Yoshizumi Dermatology Clinic, Tokyo, Japan

    Junko Yoshizumi

  5. Parasitology-Mycology Department, Avicenne Hospital, Bobigny, France

    Arezki Izri

Authors
  1. Rie R. Yotsu
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  2. Junko Yoshizumi
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Correspondence to Rie R. Yotsu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institut, Herston, QLD, Australia

    Katja Fischer

  2. UPE-Université Paris-Est, Service de Dermatologie, Hôpital Henri Mondor, EA 7379 EpiDermE et INSERM CIC 1430, Créteil, France

    Olivier Chosidow

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Yotsu, R.R., Yoshizumi, J., Izri, A. (2023). Biology of Sarcoptes scabiei and Its Relevance to Human Scabies: Clinical Symptoms, Treatment, and Management. In: Fischer, K., Chosidow, O. (eds) Scabies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26070-4_2

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