Abstract
Scabies has existed for more than 2500 years. It was described in ancient texts from the Middle East, China, and India (1). The word “scabies” is believed to have originated from scabere, the Latin term meaning “to scratch.” It was not until 1687 that Bonomo and Cestoni described the casual relationship between the mite and the disease (2). More than 300 million cases of scabies are diagnosed each year. It is a sexually transmitted infection (STI), but it can be spread by other activities that involve close personal skin contact. The pruritus caused by the infestation is very distressing in itself, but the burrows directly caused by the mite and the excoriations caused by the scratch also make the host susceptible to secondary skin infection and systemic sepsis.
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© 2006 Humana Press Inc.,Totowa NJ
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Woodward, J. (2006). Ectoparasites. In: Nelson, A.L., Woodward, J., Wysocki, S. (eds) Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Current Clinical Practice. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-040-9_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-040-9_12
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
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