She was thought to have disappeared in France, but she has come back in force in recent years. In 2015 and 2016, more than 500 new cases a day were reported in France . From 150,000 to 200,000 cases per year, according to an estimate of the Institute of health monitoring.

Transmission is facilitated by close and frequent contact, when sharing the bed of a contaminated person or exchanging clothes with her, for example. It is not conveyed by a simple handshake.

The small mite responsible for the contagion, a female sarcopter, then digs tunnels under the skin to deposit its eggs.
After ten days to four weeks of incubation, intense itching appears . It must be treated quickly because this infection never heals spontaneously.

What are the signs of the disease?

All itching does not come from scabies. Do not panic for nothing, as soon as your skin scratches you. The contagion with the sarcopter is initially located primarily between the fingers of the hands, then it develops towards the wrists and elbows, then the groin and the armpits, sometimes also around the navel and at the level of the genitals.

The face is never reached, but the scalp can be.

The parasite is invisible to the naked eye. However, we can see the furrows and vesicles it generates, where it scratches the most, especially in the evening and during the night, or after a hot bath. If in doubt, consult a doctor so as not to miss the disease, thinking it is a simple eczema for example.

What treatment to eradicate?

To effectively eliminate the parasite, it is necessary to combine a local treatment (a spray or a specific acaricide cream sold in pharmacies) and an oral treatment (tablets prescribed on prescription). These act by paralyzing adult sarcoptes, which eventually die.

But they are not active on eggs already laid. It is therefore necessary to renew the treatment 8 to 10 days later to kill all newly hatched larvae.

The close entourage (spouse, parents and children) must also take the treatment.

Disinfect thoroughly

Sarcopts can live two to three days outside the human body. They can persist on towels, bedding or fabric sofas in the house.

The only way to avoid recontamination is to disinfect them. All textiles that can be washed must be machine-spun at a minimum of 60 ° C. The others can be locked in a sealed plastic bag, for a few days, while the mites die for lack of skin to contaminate. The process can be accelerated by using "special tissue" acaricidal sprays. Armchairs, carpets and rugs should also be treated.

The task is tedious. But this is the price to pay to get rid of intruders permanently and not to spread scabies around you.