Well, the ER said it's not poison ivy, it may be?

Question

scabies, what the hell? No one in the house is itching or anything. My son is going to the Dr. this mornng. What the hell is scabies anyway? Where did he get it?

Answer 1

Scabies is highly contagious and often hard to irradicate. It's most common in children - he could have picked it up at school. If it turns out to truly be scabies (the doctor really should know, but a culture will be difinitive,) you need to notify the school so they can notify parents and stop an outbreak. (Many schools will not permit children w scabies to attend.)

Answer 2

Caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei, variety hominis, it produces intense, itchy skin rashes when the impregnated female tunnels into the stratum corneum of the skin and deposits eggs in the burrow. The larvae, which hatch in 3-10 days, move about on the skin, molt into a "nymphal" stage, and then mature into adult mites. The adult mites live 3-4 weeks in the host's skin.

The motion of the mite in and on the skin produces an intense itch which may resemble an allergic reaction in appearance. The presence of the eggs produces a massive allergic response which, in turn, produces more itching.

Scabies is transmitted readily, often throughout an entire household, by prolonged skin-to-skin contact with an infected person (e.g. bed partners), and thus is sometimes classed as a sexually transmitted disease. Spread by clothing, bedding or towels is a less significant risk, though possible.

PS. I have some rather graphic descriptions of fatal scabies infections from my medical and entomological texts. BUT, you really don't want to hear about them!

Answer 3

A contagious skin disease caused by a parasitic mite (Sarcoptes scabiei) and characterized by intense itching.
A similar disease in animals, especially sheep.

Could it be poison oak or sumac?

Answer 4

from someone else or animals