[Franky]

If you and your family have a recent onset of itching, which is severe at night, then most likely you and your family are suffering from scabies.

Dermatologist and cosmetologist with Satguru Partap Singh Apollo Hospitals Dr Jatinder Gill says the problem becomes severe in winter.

She says the most common symptom of scabies is severe itching, which may be worse at night or after a hot bath. The infection begins as small, itchy bumps, blisters or pus-filled bumps that break when scratched. Itchy skin may become thick, scaly, scabbed, and crisscrossed with scratch marks.

The areas of the body most commonly affected by scabies are hands and feet (especially the webs of skin between fingers and toes), the inner part of wrists, and folds under arms.

She says if a person with scabies scratches itchy areas of the skin, it increases the chance that the injured skin will also be infected by bacteria. She warns that scabies is contagious and is transmitted by skin-to-skin contact or through sexual contact with someone infected with it. The infection spreads more easily in crowded conditions. “So, if someone in your child’s class or child-care group has scabies, it’s a good idea to have your child treated for the infection even before he or she develops symptoms,” she says.

Doctors treat scabies by prescribing a medicated cream or lotion to kill the mites. The cream should be applied all over the body, not just area with rash, and must remain on the skin for eight to 12 hours before it can be washed off.