• Tiny insects spread to you from an infected person during close contact including sex
• Scabies can also be spread from using bed sheets ,towels or wearing the clothes of an infected person
• Symptoms occur when the insects bite you
• Symptoms also occur when the insects crawl under your skin to lay their eggs
  

Symptoms may include

• Itching, [ worse at night]
• Rashes [common areas include between your fingers, on your wrists, elbows, abdomen, around your genitals, or your ankles]

Testing and treatment

• You must see a clinic nurse and doctor. For Clinic Hours Click Here
• Testing and treatment is free at the health unit
• Scabies is treated with special creams, lotions available in drugstores without a prescription
• Avoid close body contact with others if you have scabies until treatment is complete
• Clothes and bed linens must be dry-cleaned or washed in hot water
• Clothes or blankets not washed or dry cleaned can be stored in air-tight plastic bags for two weeks. This will also kill the insects and their eggs
• Your sexual partners need to be told and treated.
• You should also inform anyone with whom you have had close contact or who has shared your bed sheets, clothes or towels. They should be treated even if they do not have symptoms