Staying Alive, Staying Alive…

Summary: Elizabeth recently contracted scabies from some village kids, and was gracious enough to share her new friends with both me and Anna.

When you visit villages, holding babies, playing with kids, touching things and drinking the water, you’re bound to catch something sooner or later. A coworker contracted jaundice earlier this year, and typhoid and lice found their way to Anna last year.

These past 6 months, stomach and hair problems (and potential malnourishment) notwithstanding, we’ve all managed to be relatively healthy. (Relatively is, after all, a relative word.) A few weeks ago, however, Elizabeth had developed a rash on the webbed part of her hands. Conducting a thorough self-diagnosis (with the help of WebMD), she concluded that she contracted scabies, courtesy of some kids in the village she recently visited.

One evening, when Anna was away, Elizabeth and I sat in her bed, watching a movie. After the movie ended, my attention drifted to an itch on my leg. Examining it closer, I found a trail of small, red bumps. I spent the next hour online, fervently reading everything I could about scabies, learning about what it is (mites that dig under your skin and lay eggs), how it is contracted (direct or indirect contact with someone who has it), what the symptoms are (incessant itching, a characteristic S-shaped trail of small red bumps), how to treat it (Permethrin, 5%), and potential side effects of the treatment options (minimal).

Check, check, and check. I had scabies, now what can I do to put my mind at ease? I read on some sites that one should wash everything that came in contact the body (e.g., sheets, clothing) in boiling hot water to kill the mites. So I figured, why couldn’t that work on the body itself?

Project Scalding was underway. Elizabeth and I boiled some water and started methodically burning the skin that had scabies. (When Anna found out the next day, she vowed to never leave us alone again.) A few days later, we finally got a hold of Permethrin, coated our entire bodies with it, and left it on overnight. The next morning, we congratulated ourselves, and proclaimed ourselves scabies free.

Another bullet dodged. What’s next?