>The reason for this note is a request for information. It occurred to me
>last night as I lay in bed suffering the inevitable psychogenic itch after
>seeing yet another case, what on earth is the natural history of untreated
>scabies? What must life have been like for our ancestors? Does it stabilise
>into something like a chronic lichenified eczema? Does the body eventually
>come up with some effective immune response? Is there any natural immunity
>to it, since not all close contacts seem to get it?
Had an interesting 2 hour talk on scabies a couple of years ago from a local
dermatologist. It seems that they had some volunteers during the 2nd World
War who agreed to be infected. The disease lasted for many weeks and they
became very unhappy. The "trial" had to be stopped as there was no sign of
any resolution and they were too miserable to carry on. I am sure someone
will search Medline, but the consultant suggested that nobody knew what the
natural course was as nobody can be persuaded to put up with the problem. I
will not be volunteering.
I have never seen Norwegian Scabies, but the photos which he showed were
very dramatic. I think the main message of his talk was that even
Professors of Dermatology will miss the diagnosis on occasion.
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