A 60-year-old woman visits her doctor after experiencing generalized itching for 10 days. Her hands developed a rash, which swiftly extended to her wrists, arms, and axillae. She has trouble sleeping and suffers from severe itching in certain locations. She works in a day care center, particularly caring for children aged 2 to 5. The patient has no additional medical issues and is not on any long-term drugs. Vital indicators are typical. Her body mass index (BMI) is 24 kg/m². As seen in the figure below, skin examination reveals tiny erythematous papules on the palms with excoriations, scattered vesicles, and pustules on the finger webs, palms, and wrist creases. She has identical lesions in both axillary skin folds. The rest of the exam is within normal parameters. Which of the following is the most likely finding on skin sampling of this patient's lesions?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Eductional Objective: Scabies is a highly infectious illness that causes a severely pruritic rash on the flexor surfaces of the wrist, the lateral surfaces and webs of the fingers, the elbow extensor surfaces, and the axillary folds. Patients usually have excoriations with small, crusted, red papules scattered around the affected areas. Skin scrapings from excoriated lesions show mites, ova, and excrement under light microscopy, confirming the diagnosis.

A 60-Year-Old Woman Visits Her Doctor After Experiencing Generalized Itching