Creepy Crawlies Give Me the Heeby Jeebies

So I was an inpatient tech yesterday, all day. I had several patients on different floors with varying issues, and more than one patient in "Isolation Precautions". Isolation provides protection either for the patient (whose immune system is compromised due to cancer, transplant, etc.) or for those in contact with the patient (nurses, techs, etc.)--specifically so we won't spread infection to other patients who may be immunosupressed. For isolation patients, we go beyond the standard precautions of washing hands, donning gloves and wiping down the machines with cavicide. We also get to wear these fashionable yellow synthetic material gowns that tie in the back--some of them have pinstripes which is all the rage right now. Straight off the runway for sure. About half of the time, depending on the reason for isolation, we also wear a mask with an eye-shield. So very attractive. And I'm still single...go figure.

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I was on my last patient before lunch, stomach growling, ready to sit down. My body was still over-heated from the prior exam, which was in an isolation room with the heat cranked up to 85 degrees. Post-exam body weight was 5lbs less than pre-exam, if you catch my drift. Scanning in a plastic gown will do that for you! You can imagine my dismay to see an isolation cart oustide this next patient's room when I arrived. *sigh* With resignation I put on the gown, gloves, mask with eye-shield and prepared to lose another 5lbs (which was the good part of course). Just then, the nurse emerged from the room and during the interaction she told me the reason for special precautions isolation: Scabies.

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Poor patient...I felt guilty for being creeped out when I wasn't the one having to deal with it...But eeeeewwwww. Halfway through the exam I felt an intense itch on my forehead. Can they leap from one place to the next? It was an internal battle to focus on the exam when all I could think about was that scene from Monsters Inc. when one of the scarers was "contaminated" by a child's sock: they tackled him, shaved him clean, showered him and coated him with an anti-something powder and topped off the treatment with one of those Elizabethan collars like they put on pets who are sick. The itch became increasingly worse...is it spreading?

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This is what I found when I googled "scabies":

Post-exam: So far so good. No itching. Unless I think about it. Like now. I'm so thankful to be spared from things like that...and thankful for those yellow gowns. Can I have some booties to go with it?
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What really started me thinking was: How is it that I can waltz into an isolation room all suited up and scan a patient who has a "superbug" (MRSA, VRE, etc) and not get the willies when this treatable issue makes me shudder? MRSA is way worse than scabies when you think about it! What's wrong with me? One good thing about working in a hospital is that my immune system is so strong and (to some extent, while I remain healthy) resistant to a lot of these things going around.
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So it's all good. Just don't think about it. And don't even let me get started on bedbugs.