I studied scabies years ago, as part of a course on parasitology.
The important thing is to NOT go rushing around doing more than you need, or you won't have the energy to do whast you HAVE to do. It's like treating head lice - too often we wate time and energy washing bed linen etc in hot water, when all we need to do for nits is dump the laundry (the pillewcases and towels only) in a cold laundry for a few days, then cold wash.
OK, back to scabies. You need to find out if you have it, before you treat it. The last thing we need is for the greeblies to develop pesticide resistance. Besides, these chemicals can irritate, don't expose yourself to them unless you need to.
I was always taught that to catch scabies, you need skin to skin contact. Like holding hands, or having sex, or some other skin to skin contact. According to the link above - "Touching, shaking hands, or sharing beds and contaminated objects of an infected person are common modes of transmission."
As far as use of insecticides is concerned - remember, scabies is a mite. That's an arachnid, not an insect. So insecticides are less effective. Besides, if the mites have done their usual trick they will have burrowed into the skin folds and a topical application of insecticide won't necessarily get them.
The rash - it's generally not where the mites are. The mites prefer to burrow in the thicker skin layers such as wrists, elbows etc but the rash may break out along the arms, for example. A common mistake for doctors is to do scrapings where the rash is, instead of the thicker areas (often free of rash). The rash is NOT directly caused by the mites, it's actually the response of your body, trying to fight the mites by raising an inflammatory response.
There's no need to go crazy and boil everything. The important thing to remember, as with head lice - "mites removed from their host can only live a short time". Scabies is even less contagious than head lice. They need body heat, they need a host or they die quickly. You are unlikely to find the scabies mite surviving for long on the couch, for example. They really do need skin contact. You'd only get scabies from the couch, if the person with scabies had skin contact with that couch exactly where YOU have skin contact with that couch, minutes apart at the most. While you might pick up head lice that way, scabies is most unlikely.
So let's look at the scenario - easy child's friend hasn't been diagnosed, but her boyfriend has (he got them from work). OK, it makes sense for the woman easy child works with to be treated JUST IN CASE. Her boyfriend has probably only recently caught them. If he's ever had scabies before (occupational hazard) then a reinfestation shows up FAST because you begin to itch immediately, so chances are - he has a very light dose. But the girlfriend would need to be treated too, because if she sleeps with her boyfriend or cuddles him in any way (skin to skin) then the chances are high enough to justify treatment.
As for easy child - if she had skin contact with her friend AND if her friend does have scabies, she MAY have picked up scabies. But according to info I can find - it is PROLONGED skin to skin contact that does it. A handshake won't do it. But an overcrowded nursing home where patients are all sitting close together on a bench, especially bare arms touching bare arms - that can spread it. One website says you need 20 minutes' skin contact, minimum.
"Mite movement is temperature dependent. The mite is almost immobilised below 20C. Transmission of mites between humans is therefore increased in a warm environment. Human to human contact of about 20 minutes allows the mite to transfer. Transmission also occurs via contaminated clothing, bedding, furniture and contaminated epithelial debris shed from scabetic patients." That last would be mainly from extremely loaded patients, not someone with a mild recent case.
Don't waste your energy boiling your towels etc. Focus your energy on fabric that has been in skin contact with easy child, but isolate it for a few days. That's all. If you're really concerned, shove it in the freezer. Then wash it.
Scabies is infectious, it goes through schools fast because kids, especially younger kids, are uninhibited about skin contact in their play. Older kids who have less skin contact are less likely to spred scabies. Again, similar to head lice.
Upallnight, the scabies you describe - yes, it was a mite but no, not scabies. What you describe sounds like chiggers. They stay in one place and don't migrate through your skin in the same way. Each chiggers bite is a separate mite and where you see it is where it is. And you didn't get it from skin to skin contact, you would have got them from the dirt. Chiggers is not sarcoptes scabiei.
Janet, I have some news for you ro share with Tony - he won't be happy. Yes, you CAN catch mites from dogs. Technically what you catch is not scabies, but mange. And because the mites from the dogs are NOT happy living on humans, they die within a few days. A human can catch mange but can't sustain an infection. Mites are species-specific.
So Tony didn't need to treat himself with anything - his infestation would have treated itself and would have been gone in a few days. The itch may have continued a bit longer though, because the itch is your body's allergic reaction to the dander from the mites.
I did find some info as to how long scabies mites can live when away from the human body - one of the links I've given here says that if you can't de-contaminate earlier or it's too tricky (such as with shoes) then leave them sealed (to avoid contamination through handling in the meantime) for TWO WEEKS. I know head lice only have a matter of hours at most; plus they're bigger, they can crawl further and will find a host by body heat if there is one nearby. Scabies mites are smaller and unless you have a pregnant female looking for a new site and roaming the surface, the mites are more likely to be burrowing in the skin and not on the surface. Sorry to be so graphic - it's a yuk topic.
So for easy child's peace of mind mainly, she can be treated. She's working at a daycare and she needs to know she's 'clean' of scabies. Hence - yes, treatment is a good idea.
Maybe you could talk to the doctor about what precautions you need to take in your home. But all the info I can find says to only treat the fabric that was in intimate contact with the affected person.
So wash stuff that has been in close contact with easy child's skin, or if you don't want to wear out your washing machine, simply stuff it all in a plastic bag and leave it for two weeks. Any mites will be very dead after that time away from the chance of a meal. Mites NEED a host to survive.
Don't panic. Go carefully, methodically and stay calm. Chances are, she hasn't got it. And if she has - you've got it it quickly, before she's got too big a load. Talk to the doctor, read up on it and don't let it get to you.
Marg