Is Scabies an STD: What You Need to Know

Scabies is a skin condition caused by parasitic mites and characterized by itchy skin and rashes. But is scabies an STD? What are the symptoms? Is it curable? We'll explain everything you need to know and break down common misconceptions surrounding scabies mites and how they spread.

If you believe you may have scabies or another STD, it's crucial to get tested. At Rapid STD Testing, we have over 2,500 locations nationwide that make it easy for you to get same-day STD testing. You can order a 10-panel STD test online and have confidential results in one to three days.

What Is Scabies, and How Is It Commonly Transmitted?

The human itch mite known as scabies (Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis) is a relatively harmless arthropod that causes intense itching after burrowing beneath your skin's top layer. After the mites tunnel below the skin, the burrows they leave behind usually look like tiny, serpentine lines that are gray or flesh-colored. However, it can take four to eight weeks for symptoms to show after the initial infestation.

If you're wondering, “How are scabies transferred?” The answer is simple: close physical contact. Scabies mites go through a four-stage life cycle: egg, larvae, nymph, and mature adult. Once the mites make skin contact, the females burrow under the skin and lay approximately two to three eggs daily.

The larvae hatch after three to four days, head back to the skin's surface, and then create micro-burrows known as molting pouches. As the larvae grow up, they molt one last time before they become fully grown adults, which are round, look like tiny sacs, and don't have any eyes.

Once the female finds a suitable spot for a permanent burrow, she continues to lay eggs every day for 30 to 60 days until she dies.

Is Scabies Only Sexually Transmitted?

So, is scabies an STI (sexually transmitted infection)? Yes and no. Scabies isn't an infection but rather an infestation. People can catch scabies through casual skin contact like hugging, sleeping in the same bed as someone who has scabies or having sexual contact with them.

Occasionally, scabies can pass to another person through clothing or bedding. While poor hygiene can't make scabies magically manifest, it can raise your risk of getting the mites if you're in close physical contact with an infested host and don't shower or wash your body regularly.

Furthermore, when scabies mites become dislodged from their host, they can successfully seek out another host, which often accounts for people who get scabies without coming in direct contact with an infested person. Female mites detect light, host odor, and warm body temperatures to find a host person to infect. However, they can only live for three days without a living host.

Signs and Symptoms of Scabies

A scabies infestation causes symptoms that look similar to many skin diseases. The most common symptoms of scabies include:

Intense Itching: The primary symptom of a scabies infestation is intense itching and irritation, particularly at night. The urge to itch can become so fierce that it can disrupt normal sleep or cause the infested person to wake up. Often, people mistake scabies for other skin diseases, like psoriasis, eczema, jock itch, and herpes. You can learn the differences between jock itch and herpes here.

Skin Rash: When the scabies mites burrow under the skin's top layer, it can cause a rash. This rash can look like little squiggly lines or tiny pimple-like bumps that form in a row. Sometimes the rash can look like tiny bites, hives, or small knots.

Sores: After repeated itching, the skin rash can become an open sore and could eventually become infected. It's important to avoid itching open sores or rashes to prevent a serious infection from occurring.

A scabies infestation can occur anywhere on the body. However, the female mites usually move around to find the perfect spot to burrow and create a breeding pouch. Also, scabies usually infest certain areas of the body more than others, including:

• Hands: Scabies frequently burrow under the skin on the hands, fingers, and around the fingernails.
• Arms: Female mites often create burrows on the arms, including the elbows and wrists.
• Covered Skin: Scabies also like to burrow where clothing or jewelry covers the skin, including the waist, buttocks, armpits, thighs, and around the nipples. Infestations of genital scabies are also quite common, such as on the penis or around the bikini line. To learn more about rashes on genitals and common causes, check out the Rapid STD Testing blog.

Is Crusted Scabies an STD?

Severe infestations of the human itch mite are known as crusted scabies, or sometimes Norwegian scabies. In mild cases of scabies, most people don't have more than 10 or 15 mites on them at a time. However, in cases of crusted scabies, the infested host has hundreds or even thousands of mites under their skin, which causes extreme itching and rashes.

In these cases, the rashes are much larger and often look like crusted patches of skin. They're usually grayish in color, thick, and crumble apart when touched. Crusts can occur in one or several areas, like the back, feet, or scalp.

Crusted scabies can spread through sexual contact but is not technically an STD. The mites can also pass between people during any close contact (like hugging), not exclusively through sexual contact. They often spread quickly through communal living spaces like prisons, childcare centers, universities, or healthcare facilities.

People with weak immune systems are at much higher risk of contracting crusted scabies. As such, crusted scabies are most common in young children and the elderly. However, people with certain immunosuppressive conditions, such as leukemia and HIV, or sensory issues (like spinal cord injuries or dementia) are also at high risk.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Scabies

In addition to regular scabies and crusted scabies, there are three other types of infestations:

• Nodular: Most common in children, these mites leave brownish-red nodules on the skin that can remain for weeks or months after the infestation is gone.
• Scalp: While most scabies won't infest adults above the neck, some types prefer to burrow into the skin of the scalp. Symptoms include scaly plaques that look similar to psoriasis.
• Bullous: Bullous scabies typically infest adults, causing skin irritation and blisters. Many people mistake bullous scabies for another skin condition known as bullous pemphigoid, which also causes blisters.

How to Identify Scabies

Healthcare providers have a few options for diagnosing scabies, including:

Visual Exam: A doctor takes a small scraping or shaving of the person's rash and then examines it under a microscope to determine if scabies are present.

Topical Solution: A medical professional uses a topical tetracycline solution to wet the rash on the patient's skin. Then, they use a special light wavelength to inspect the area for the telltale serpentine burrows.

Burrow Ink Test: Also known as BIT, this test uses ink from a fountain pen to saturate the skin. A doctor then removes the excess and waits; the tiny burrows will become visible if the person has an active infestation.

If you believe you may have scabies, getting tested is crucial, as you can easily pass the mites onto other people.

Scabies STD Treatment

Fortunately, scabies aren't that serious, and getting rid of an infestation is relatively straightforward. After a positive test and diagnosis, talk to your healthcare provider about scabies treatments immediately. You also must notify people you've had close physical contact with, including sexual partners. Otherwise, they could unknowingly continue to spread the mites.

The most common form of treatment for scabies is scabicides. This prescription medication is a topical cream that you apply all over your body to kill the mites and their eggs.

Other treatment types for scabies include:

Permethrin Cream: An FDA-approved scabies treatment for pregnant women and patients over two months.

Benzyl Benzoate: Benzyl benzoate is a 25% topical lotion for treating crusted scabies.

Sulfur Ointment: This ointment has a foul odor but is suitable for babies under two months old.

Lindane Lotion: While Lindane is FDA-approved, people only start this course of treatment as a last resort when other methods have failed. It's not safe for pregnant or breastfeeding women.

Crotamiton Cream: This adults-only treatment requires two topical applications in 24 hours.

Most scabies treatments are easy to use. However, following directions and finishing the treatment in full is very important. After you get tested, consult your primary physician for which treatment method fits your needs best.

Guide to Preventing Scabies

Scabies can pass around close populations quickly, such as daycare centers, colleges, nursing homes, prisons, etc. You can reduce your chances of getting and spreading these skin mites by using good judgment, practicing good hygiene, and staying well-informed. The following tips can help slow the spread of scabies:

Avoid Contact: The best way to prevent scabies is to practice social distancing and avoid making close physical and sexual contact with anyone who has scabies or an unidentified skin rash. That includes clothing, bedding, vehicles, and furniture.

Don't Be Ashamed: Scabies is a common health issue that affects people all over the world. If you believe you may have come into contact with the mites or have an active rash, it's important to see your doctor or dermatologist right away.

Know the Risk Factors: Children and their caregivers are at a high risk of catching scabies, and so are people that live or work in prisons, camps, dorms, nursing homes, and other communal spaces. Anywhere people live in close contact are at higher risk for scabies.

Practice Good Hygiene: Practicing good hygiene is essential regardless. However, people who live or work in communal spaces should take particular care. For example, if someone unknowingly comes into contact with scabies, taking a shower or bath could remove the mites before they have a chance to burrow.

Use Good Judgment: For sexually active adults, it's important to use good judgment regarding sexual partners. Sexual activity is a common way to contract scabies because it involves prolonged physical contact. Avoid having sex with anyone who has an undiagnosed rash.

Treat Everyone: After a positive scabies diagnosis, everyone living in the same house should get treated at the same time, even if they don't have a rash. A scabies rash can take a few weeks to appear after infestation, so treating everyone at once lowers the chance of the mites reappearing.

Do Laundry and Clean: After treatment, be sure to wash everything, including clothes, bedding, and towels, in a hot wash cycle. Anything unsuitable or too large for machine washing should be bagged up for at least a week, as scabies can only live off the human body for about three days. Also, don't forget to vacuum furniture, vehicle interiors, and carpeting. When you finish, throw away the vacuum cleaner bag or sanitize the inside of the canister to be thorough.

Finish Treatment: After a scabies diagnosis, it's imperative to take the treatment exactly as the doctor prescribes until they say it's okay to stop. If you stop treatment prematurely, scabies could continue to spread among people in close contact. For people in a physical relationship, avoid having sex with your partner until you're both finished with the treatment.

Call Rapid STD Testing Today

So, what's the takeaway: Is scabies an STD? Technically, the answer is no, although it often spreads between sexual partners because they're in close physical contact. Therefore, anyone with an unidentified red rash should seek medical attention and get tested immediately. You can find a testing clinic near you and order a rapid STD test right now from our website. Then, visit one of our 2,500 nationwide Rapid STF Testing locations, and you'll have confidential results within one to three days.