Itch mites and scabies abroad and while traveling: are they dangerous, where do you encounter them, where can you see them?
What is an itch mite?
- Itch mites, also called scabies mites, are extremely irritating and difficult to detect in advance. A scabies mite has 8 legs, but you won't easily see them, because these mites are not visible to the naked eye.
- The mite digs small tunnels in the top layer of your skin and lays eggs inside. As a result of your skin's reaction to this intruder, you experience intense itching: you have scabies.
- You can recognize scabies by blisters, red bumps, or scales on the palms, between the fingers, on the wrists, elbows, feet, and genitals.
- You can also contract scabies from animals, but because these are different species of scabies mites that cannot survive on humans, you will not be left with long-term itching.
Where do scabies mites occur?
- The scabies mite lives on and around humans and is primarily transmitted through prolonged skin to skin contact, but also via clothing, bedding, and towels.
- Unfortunately, it can occur anywhere, but the risk is higher if you stay somewhere where you share the aforementioned carriers or sleep in a place with questionable hygiene.
- If you are kept awake by the itching, you were usually infected between two and six weeks earlier.
What can you do against scabies mites?
- Avoid intimate contact with people with scabies. To be safe, it is best not to share clothing/towels/sleeping bags with people whose scabies status you do not know.
- Do you think, or do you know, that you have been in a place infected with scabies mites? Or have you been intimate with an infected person? Unpack your belongings outside. Wash items that can withstand it at 60 degrees or higher and then put them in the dryer. Freezing items (below -14 degrees) also kills scabies mites. Scabies mites can only survive for three days without a human at room temperature, so storing items properly and staying elsewhere can also be a solution.
- Unverified tips:
- Bring an impregnated sleeping bag liner or a piece of impregnated mosquito netting!
- A special thin plastic mattress cover is available; it is a small, fist-sized package that weighs almost nothing and is also used against dust mites.
What can you do after scabies mite bites?
- Once you notice the itching, it means that scabies mites have already been present in your skin for several weeks....
- Scabies can be treated with permethrin ointment or pills. After proper treatment, you will no longer be contagious within twelve hours.
- Ensure a mite-free environment after your treatment – so use clean towels/bedding/clothing to prevent reinfection.
- In addition to your own treatment, you must especially ensure that all your close contacts and owners of sleeping places are informed about your scabies.
