Scabies is a very contagious skin disease caused by infestation with a type of microscopic mite called Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis. The parasite mites responsible for causing scabies can be easily contracted by entering in contact with infested persons. Scabies can also be acquired indirectly, by entering in contact with contaminated objects. Although scabies mites can live for a few days without a human host, recent studies have revealed that scabies is rarely acquired indirectly.

Once they find a human host, scabies mites quickly populate the skin, hiding in less exposed regions of the body. Female mites usually lay their eggs under the fingernails, in the skin folds between the toes or fingers, in the pubic region, in the areas of the buttocks or the upper back, in armpits and the region of the elbows. The first symptoms generated by scabies are skin inflammation, itch and rash. In later stages of the mite infestation, people can also develop skin ulcerations, lesions, blisters, pustules, crust and painful nodules. Most of the symptoms caused by scabies occur due to allergic reactions to the mites