What are scabies? Are they an infection, a condition of the skin like a rash? Or are they something real, like a little bug? The answer is both. One causes the other. You start out with a visit from little mites. This isn't a lice infestation, but it can be just as annoying. A doctor can diagnose whether you have a scabies infection. The bad thing is that, by the time you feel you have a scabies problem, the damage is already done.

Scabies is very contagious, and can be transmitted by direct contact with an infected person. This means even hugging a scabies sufferer puts you at risk. The same is true if you come into contact with the sufferer's bedding and clothes, if your contact with them is two weeks or less since the sufferer was last in contact with their bedding or clothing. However, there isn't really a chance that you'd get a scabies infection simply by walking around where a sufferer has been. You also aren't going to become infected by petting an animal with mange, which is the pet form of the infection.

The biggest thing you have to deal with when suffering from a scabies infestation is that infernal itching that goes along with the infection. Scratching makes it worse -- much more badly than you know, or could be thinking about. Infants and pregnant women are at the greatest risk with a scabies infection. The second biggest issue is that this infection is highly contagious, and can be spread before the original sufferer even knows they have been invaded. This is because the symptoms of a scabies infection can take anywhere from seven to sixty days to reveal itself.

Prevention really is the best medicine, especially from a scabies attack. Try not to trade clothes with anyone, or sleep in their bed, or hug them, if you know they are infected. You also want to be sure that if anyone has been around a sufferer that you stay clear of the sufferer and those they have come into contact with, for the proper amount of time. If you do find yourself inadvertently coming into contact with either person, get the recommended treatment right away.

The sad thing is when an entire community is into hugging and sharing, because it only takes one person infected with scab mites to ruin not only the day but the next couple of months of nearly everyone in the community.

What would need to happen, should scabies invade a close-knit group or community is that everyone should want to or need to be treated for scabies, even if they are infected or not. Err on the side of safety and protection. This will prevent the widespread invading of scabies into the lives of others inside of or out of the community. No one dreams of a scabies epidemic, but it could happen anytime, anywhere.

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