15 Common Ways Kids And Adults Get Scabies
Sexual intercourse
Scabies are technically classified as an STD, because they are spread through sexual contact. This does not necessarily mean that you will get scabies on your genitals. What ever part of your body is touching the body of an infested person, is likely to contract scabies. If you catch scabies during sex, you will usually see the first symptoms around the genital area.
Sports
Contact sports, especially sports with skin to skin contact, like wrestling, have very high rates of scabies transmission. It only takes one wrestler who has scabies, to spread it to all of the other wrestlers. Wrestlers are usually checked for contagious skin diseases before they are allowed to wrestle, but there is no way of telling whether a person has scabies, until the symptoms appear, which could be up to a month after they become contagious.
Massages
If your masseuse has scabies, or has recently given a massage to someone with scabies, and does not know it, they can easily spread it to all of there other patients. The prolonged skin to skin contact from a massage, allows the mites to transfer easily, from the hands of the masseuse, to the patient.
Gyms
Using workout equipment in a crowded gym, is another way that you can catch scabies. This happened to me. And it wasn’t even from a crowded gym. When I got scabies for the first time, it was after starting a morning workout routine, at a small town gym, with only a few other people using it. Usually, people who are working out, do not take the time to wipe the sweat off of machine handles with disinfectant, after they are done using it. This makes it easy for scabies to spread to the next person who uses the machine.
Hotels
Hotels will usually put newly washed sheets, pillow cases, and towels in a room, for every new guest. But, they do not usually wash the blankets, curtains, or pillows. These items can be contaminated with scabies, and spread to everyone else that touches them. Mites can live on these items for up to three days. Since a lot of people are using a hotel room in the span of three days, it can turn one room into a breeding ground for mites.
Nursing homes
Nursing homes are notorious for rampant scabies outbreaks. Nursing homes are crowded places where the majority of people have weak immune systems, and cannot fight off the mites. There have also been numerous reports of nursing homes, neglecting to provide proper treatment to elderly people with extreme cases of scabies infestations.
Daycares
It is common for children to contract scabies after a few weeks of going to a new daycare. Daycares can be crowded places, where lots of skin to skin contact occurs. Kids like to touch everything without thinking about it. If just one kid in a daycare, has scabies, it can spread like wildfire, to all off the other kids.
Clothing
Scabies can live on unwashed clothing for three days, and can be transmitted to anyone touching it. If you go to a clothing store and try on a pair of pants or a shirt, you are at risk of catching scabies. There is no way of knowing whether one of the ten people who tried it on before you, had scabies or not.
Bedding
Since most people do not wash their bedding everyday, it can become a contaminated item that spreads scabies to other family members, or your spouse. If you are sleeping in the same bed with someone, and one of you gets scabies, the other person is sure to get it too. The best way to prevent this, is to just wash your bedding every single day.
Airplanes
Airplanes are crowded places where scabies spread easily. When you have a lot of people touching the same things, for hours at a time, it makes a prime environment for the scabies mites to find a new host. Airplane flights can be long, which gives plenty of time for a mite to get from an airplane seat belt, to your hand.
Nail Salons
Nail salon visits involve a lot of prolonged hand touching. One of the most common places that scabies like to infest, is between your fingers. If your stylist had scabies or recently touched a previous cliet who had scabies, it would be very easy for the mites to get from their hand, onto yours.
Toilets
Many people now use toilet seat covers when they use public bathrooms. If you do not use a cover, public toilets can be the perfect place for scabies mites to spread. Scabies are not the only thing that you can catch from a toilet seat though. Many types of bacteria, fungus, and viruses, can also be transmitted.
Furniture
It is a little less common to get scabies from furniture, but it still happens. If a family member, or a friend has scabies, and they happen to sit on your couch, it is possible for mites to get onto the couch cushion or arm rest and spread to the next person who sits there.
Schools
Scabies spread like crazy in schools. There are probably a few reasons for this. Firstly, students are switching desks every 45 minutes, and desks are not sanitized in between periods. Another reason is that school bathroom stalls are notoriously unclean. To top it off, you have after school sports like wrestling.
Hospitals
You would think that a hospital would be a very sterile environment. Yet, it is a very common place for people to catch scabies. It can be spread by many things, including, nurses clothing, hospital bathrooms, or even the bed curtains.
