title: Scabies by Kenneth Mellanby.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Epidemics of scabies are often associated with wars or other times of social upheaval. This was particularly evident during the Second World War when it was estimated that there were one to two million patients with scabies in Great Britain.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This article reviews the work of the zoologist Kenneth Mellanby of England and evaluates his contribution to our knowledge of the diagnosis and treatment of scabies in the Second World War.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Using humans, Mellanby studied the transmission and treatment of this disease. Among his contributions were knowledge of how many mites the average patient had, and where they were located. He clearly noted and described that the scabies rash was not limited to the location of the mites on the body; he attributed the rash in areas with no mites to "a true sensitization." He found that "fomites were not the major method of transmissions.
authors.affiliation: University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jackson
mesh_terms: D004739:England; D004772:Entomology / Q000266:history; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D012532:Scabies / Q000266:history* / Q000628:therapy / Q000635:transmission