According to NHS figures, 3,689 cases of scabies were diagnosed in hospitals in England this year to April. This is up from 2,128 from the previous year. The Express spoke to Dr Deborah Lee from Dr Fox Pharmacy , a fully regulated UK online doctor and pharmacy service managed by NHS GPs.
Dr Lee has shared some of the health symptoms people should be looking out for and where it is most commonly found on the body. She also shared some of the reasons of what could be behind the outbreak in the UK and if it is contagious. But first what exactly is scabies and what do they look like? What exactly is scabies? Scabies is an infestation of the skin by the scabies mite Sarcoptes scabiei.
The mites are tiny with an adult mite measuring between 0.3-0.35 mm in length.
The mites are transmitted by prolonged periods of close, skin-to-skin contact. They tunnel under the skin leaving a scaly track to create a burrow. Here, the females lay their eggs, which hatch in three to four days.
The baby mites mature into adults in one to two weeks. A person can develop an allergic reaction to the presence of the mite and its dung, which causes an intense, itchy skin rash. What symptoms should people look out for? The most commonly affected parts of the body are the webs between fingers and toes, the wrists, under the arms, the umbilical area, the groin and the buttocks.
It can also affect the head and neck, the palms and soles, the genitalia and under the breasts. The scabies rash consists of little .