Serum IgE before and after treatment for scabies.

In 120 patients, treated for scabies infection, the serum IgE concentrations fell from high levels in 54 and normal levels in 66 to lower levels 12 months after treatment. The specific IgE antibodies to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (RAST) were also reduced 12 months after treatment. The decrease in both IgE concentrations and IgE antibodies was most conspicuous in non-atopic patients. These findings confirm previous observations of specific immunological hypersensitivity to scabies mite, and that scabies infection stimulates the production of IgE antibodies.