Laboratory Diagnosis of Scabies Using a Simple Saline Mount: A Clinical Microbiologist's Report

Abstract

Scabies is a skin condition caused by infestation of the mite Sarcoptes scabiei. Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis is an arthropod member belonging to the order Acarina. Scabies is present throughout the world and is prevalent in all age groups, mostly involving people frequently in contact with animals, children, women, and elderly people. Predisposing factors for scabies include individuals with immunosuppressive conditions and people residing under low socioeconomic conditions. Skin lesions that occur during mite infestation closely resemble dermatological disorders caused by microbes, including fungi, parasites, and viruses. Laboratory diagnosis of scabies greatly relies on an accurate clinical suspicion and the demonstration of mites in the skin scrapings could be used for confirmation. It should be noted that a greater understanding between a clinician or a dermatologist and a clinical microbiologist is required to successfully diagnose scabies. This report details an easily performed, cost-effective method, the simple saline mount, that a clinical microbiology laboratory should follow to successfully identify mites in skin scrapings.

A case of Norwegian scabies in a patient with leukemia cutis secondary to chronic lymphocytic leukemia

“…There are few case reports that report concurrent leukemic involvement of the skin and crusted scabies [7,8]. Treatment of scabies resulted in the resolution of the skin lesions [7].…”

First description of sarcoptic mange in a wild coati (Nasua narica), in Ecuador, and cooccurrence of canine distemper virus

“…The samples were analyzed and sent to a private laboratory in Guayaquil (Diagnovet, Guayaquil) for confirmation. Mites of the Sarcoptidae family were rinsed with 2% potassium hydroxide and observed under a binocular microscope to identify the parasite (Kandi, 2017).…”

Salt and skin

“…It was also suggested that routine saline mount can be employed for all cases that are examined for fungus, since KOH can kill the mites or immobilize them and a coinfection can be missed. 13…”