Among the many conditions that creep under your skin and make scratching irresistible, scabies alone holds the honor of being called simply “The Itch” for centuries. In this episode, we examine how the burrowing scabies mites cause this extremely uncomfortable sensation, what we can do to halt their progress, and how contagious they really are (less than you probably think). Today, the word scabies instantly conjures up images of the mite responsible for The Itch, but for centuries, medicine failed to make that connection, even when the proof was right in front of them and when traditional wisdom had long since known mite=scabies. Tune in to learn how the great scabies debate was finally resolved with a public demonstration, what role conscientious objectors played in scabies research during WWII, and where we are with scabies around the globe today.
| History | Biology |
| Craig, Errol. The itch: scabies. Oxford University Press, 2022. | Heukelbach, J. and Feldmeier, H., 2006. Scabies. The Lancet, 367(9524), pp.1767-1774. |
| Andriantsoanirina, Valérie, et al. “Are humans the initial source of canine mange?.” Parasites & Vectors 9 (2016): 1-8. | Thomas, C., Coates, S.J., Engelman, D., Chosidow, O. and Chang, A.Y., 2020. Ectoparasites: scabies. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 82(3), pp.533-548. |
| Arlian, Larry G., and Marjorie S. Morgan. “A review of Sarcoptes scabiei: past, present and future.” Parasites & vectors 10 (2017): 1-22. | Hicks, M.I. and Elston, D.M., 2009. Scabies. Dermatologic therapy, 22(4), pp.279-292. |
| BEESON, BARKER. “Acarus scabiei: Study of its history.” Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology 16.3 (1927): 294-307. | Chosidow, O., 2006. Scabies. New England Journal of Medicine, 354(16), pp.1718-1727. |
| Cropley, Thomas G. “The “army itch:” A dermatological mystery of the American civil War.” Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 55.2 (2006): 302-308. | Anderson, K.L. and Strowd, L.C., 2017. Epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of scabies in a dermatology office. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 30(1), pp.78-84. |
| Currier, Russell W., Shelley F. Walton, and Bart J. Currie. “Scabies in animals and humans: history, evolutionary perspectives, and modern clinical management.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1230.1 (2011): E50-E60. | Karimkhani, C., Colombara, D.V., Drucker, A.M., Norton, S.A., Hay, R., Engelman, D., Steer, A., Whitfeld, M., Naghavi, M. and Dellavalle, R.P., 2017. The global burden of scabies: a cross-sectional analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. The Lancet infectious diseases, 17(12), pp.1247-1254. |
| Heukelbach, Jörg, and Hermann Feldmeier. “Scabies.” The Lancet 367.9524 (2006): 1767-1774. | World Health Organization, 2020. WHO informal consultation on a framework for scabies control, World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific, Manila, Philippines, 19–21 February 2019: meeting report. World Health Organization. |
| Hoeppli, R. “The knowledge of parasites and parasitic infections from ancient times to the 17th century.” Experimental Parasitology 5.4 (1956): 398-419. | Schneider, S., Wu, J., Tizek, L., Ziehfreund, S. and Zink, A., 2023. Prevalence of scabies worldwide—An updated systematic literature review in 2022. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 37(9), pp.1749-1757. |
| Lane, John E. “Bonomo’s letter to Redi: An important document in the history of scabies.” Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology 18.1 (1928): 1-25. | Bernigaud, C., Fischer, K. and Chosidow, O., 2020. The management of scabies in the 21st century: past, advances and potentials. Acta dermato-venereologica, 100(9). |
| Roncalli, R. A. “The history of scabies in veterinary and human medicine from biblical to modern times.” Veterinary parasitology 25.2 (1987): 193-198. | WHO Fact Sheet: Scabies. 2023. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/scabies |
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