Misconceptions about catching a scab: “This would be good to understand” – 2024-03-14 20:52:53

An exceptional number of scabies infections have been reported in recent months. In the Husi region, the number of scabies patients has tripled in recent years.

It has been feared that the virus can even be caught from bus benches, sofas in holiday homes or gyms.

Infectious disease doctor at the Institute of Health and Welfare (THL). Santtu Heinonen answered Iltalehti readers’ questions about scabies in IL-TV’s situation studio.

According to Heinonen, in recent weeks, THL has been able to answer countless questions and concerns about what kind of places you can get scabies.

– In principle, it is very unlikely that scabies would be caught by shaking hands or hugging, Heinonen states.

Scabies is clearly most commonly transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, but for a scabies mite to pass from one person to another, contact usually takes much longer than a handshake or a quick hug.

TV:n tilannestudiossa."/>Infectious disease doctor Santtu Heinonen told about the scabies situation in IL-TV’s situation studio. Inka Soveri

Hotels and door handles

According to Heinonen, it is very unlikely that you would get the scabies mite through textiles. It is very unlikely that you would get a rash, for example, from adjusting clothes in a fitting booth.

– It would be good for people to understand this, he says.

According to Heinonen, there is no reason to be afraid that the scabies mite could hide in the textiles of a rented vacation cabin or hotel room.

– I wouldn’t be worried about them at all. For example, in hotels and on ships, sheets are changed and washed properly, which kills the scabies mite.

According to Heinonen, when it comes to the mite, for example, door handles or shopping basket handles are zero-risk places. The scabies mite does not catch on such surfaces.

– It is very, very unlikely to get a scabies mite from the gym mat, Heinonen says.

The dangers of avoidance

Scabies treatment includes, in addition to drug treatment, cleaning the entire home from scabies, which requires care and long-term care.

Heinonen admits that cleaning scabies is a demanding operation, but it is worth doing to really get rid of scabies.

Despite the embarrassment of scabies, Heinonen hopes that the fear of scabies will not grow into such a troll that people start to curtail human contact.

– If we start to avoid skin contact because of scabies, it can easily start to happen that the negative things caused by the avoidance start to become big, warns Heinonen.

According to Heinonen, there is generally a relatively small risk of contracting scabies in everyday life. Usually, the infection is acquired from members of the family circle or other close people.

– Of course, those contacts cannot be avoided, Heinonen states.