Scabies
Natural Remedies

Natural Approaches for Scabies: Exploring Effective Remedies

on Apr 07, 2023| Modified on Mar 26, 2025
The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Borax and Hydrogen Peroxide Soak
Posted by Truemermaid (Al) on 07/01/2018
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

After one year with dealing with scabies the only thing we found to work for my husband's dry skin was Ted's remedy for pet mange. 50/50 peroxide and borax left on the skin overnight. Overnight was the key because borax bath soaks that cleared the other members of our household during reinfestations were not absolving the problem for him. Thus, every few days he would need to repeat treatment to avoid reinvesting the household. Permethrin (bought from local farm store) repelled mites from our furniture but did not kill immediately (3 days in non-humid environment). We tried both ivermectin and moxidectin however both repelled but did not eliminate the problem.

One method I found to help with clothing, especially shoes and belts, was freezing them for at least 10 minutes. Extreme changes in temperatures kill the mites but hot baths were too drying on my husband's skin and made the problem worse. His flaky dry skin was harboring the bugs and one peroxide/borax treatment overnight ended our war!

I hope this helps anyone dealing with this and know you are not dirty for keeping scabies. There is not enough information or research from the local USA doctor community to help adults with this disease.

Borax and Hydrogen Peroxide Soak
Posted by Smittymom (Des Moines, LA) on 04/09/2014
★★★★★

I just wanted to comment on the Borax and Hydrogen Peroxide post. You have saved my sanity!!! I have 4 kids under 9 and we think my husband brought home scabies from work. It has been a horrible experience! Especially for our 15 month old who was struggling terribly-up hours at night screaming etc. I was desperate. After several internet search attempts I found this site. I did not want to use Ivermectin and Permethrin creams-so I tried several home remedies--lots of coconut oil (which my 15mo old reacted to so we had to switch her to grapeseed oil-worked great) We used those carrier oils for the young living's Thieves oil-which worked great for relief-but didn't cure. We also used Naturasil stuff-lavender/sulfer soap, tea tree oil soak, the sulfer lotion, and the spray to kill stuff--along with washing everything-everyday. All of those things helped-and maybe even cured my husband--but my baby girl had nests all over-and head to toe rash--she was in misery. Not until we started the hydrogen peroxide/borax soak did she truly see results--and I saw them the first day!!!!! It was amazing!!! I only used about 1/3 c borax and 1/4 c. hydrogen peroxide for her--borax is hard on skin so be careful! Will really dry out. for myself I followed the 1c borax and 1/2 c Hydrogen peroxide. We so far have done 2 nights of borax baths and this is the first day I can say she has no new spots and the old ones are fading fast. It's been 10 days of hell for us (my husband started itching 2 months ago) but the last week and a half were awful.

I also made up a spray bottle of about 20oz warm water and added 2 Tbs borax and 2Tbs hydrogen peroxide. I spray this all over my house and when I have an itch I put it on my skin and let it dry there. After that I still use the coconut oil (2Tbs melted) with 4-5drops of Thieves oil-its got clove in it--and I put that on the itchy spots as well. We also put the tea tree oil in the baths at night as well-we then air dry to let the oil and borax stay on our skin. After that I cover in the coconut oil I have found some very dry/leathery like spots on my skin after borax-but its so much better than a scabies itch-so I will lotion or oil up. We also put borax in all our laundry loads washing everything on super hot (we turned our hot water heater all the way up) and drying everything completely (and putting all pillows in the dryer daily for 20-30min)

We will continue the nightly bath ritual (which takes about 4 hours for 6 people it seems). For a few more days at least-until the baby is completely healed-and then we will probably do every 2-3 days for awhile just in case-I'm not risking re-infection--this has been a nightmare.

This was an AMAZING find!! Borax and Hydrogen Peroxide made all the difference for the cure!!!! Thank You Thank You thank you!!! Getting our lives back. :)


Clove Oil
Posted by Lorisayshey (San Diego, Ca) on 08/25/2011
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

USE CLOVE OIL!!!! Only thing effective in killing the permithrin-resistant scabies. Better than anything else I've used, 90% cured after 1 week. 1 part clove oil, 3 parts coconut oil or olive oil. Leave on skill 24 hrs a day. Scabies and larvae coming to surface of skin get a taste and die, scabies burrowing into skin get a taste and it kills them in about 15 mins. Keep everything not just clean, but sanitized - 1/2 ounce clove oil in 32 ounce spray bottle and spray EVERYTHING you can every morning every night. Way to get rid of them is reduce the numbers every day, keep things clean, don't give up, be more tenatious than they are! Don't forget to pray and thank the Lord that He put it on my heart to post this to help you all!

Niacin
Posted by Brian (Lake Worth, Florida) on 08/02/2017 1 posts
★★★★★

I've found a super simple trick to completely eradicate scabies. It's safe, inexpensive and extremely effective. Niacin! Buy 500mg's of the flushing kind of niacin and take one right before bed. Both my girlfriend and I used this to quickly kill our scabies. I was re infected, and used it again to quickly defeat them again. This after 6 months of trying everything else.

Borax your clothes on hot. Clean your space thoroughly. Clip your nails. Buy a sulfur cream (also very effective at control but not eradication) and use it on the bites daily to keep them in check. But Niacin is the thing.

Be aware, 500mgs of FLUSHING niacin can be very uncomfortable. It is recommended not to take it on an empty stomach and it makes most people feel very warm. I believe it is this flush that creates the efficacy. We took it before bed so that we were asleep before the discomfort arose. You will be amazed how easily this works. Please repost after curing yourselves to that this becomes common knowledge and people don't have to suffer with these evil little mites!

Clove Oil
Posted by Scabiegone ( Massachusetts) on 04/10/2015
★★★★★

Took me forever to believe a natural oil would do the trick but after spending $125 on everything everyone else said, I finally found clove bud oil in rite aid. The employees didn't even know it was there, and I also grabbed orange oil too because it smells better than what I originally mixed up. So long story short, it does kill everything including the babies. You will feel relief almost instantly. There was a time I felt like giving up and I just started crying, mind you I'm a grown man. The next day I used the clove oil and I was back to life again. It takes about a week of doing what I'm about to tell you but seriously, stop reading so many posts and go find this stuff. First, in a store like Walmart, get sulphur soap, tea tree oil, clove oil, orange oil, a spray bottle, olive oil, and unscented lotion. The soap dries out skin which mites hate. Make a lotion by adding a small bottle of clove and orange oil to the lotion. Then make a spray using the olive, clove, and orange oils. The oils should be like 10% of whatever you're mixing it with to dilute it a bit. Then, take a very hot bath with drops of tea tree and orange oil in it. Soak as long as you can and get your head under water too. When you get out, air dry off and apply the lotion. This moment of relief will leave you feeling so much better already.. but it's not over. You will still itch up to a week but not merely as bad as it was. After 2 days you have your life back. BTW, clove oil stinks. That's why orange oil is key. Im on my third day of using these things and I can see them dead in my tub, because they get stuck in the oils and go down the drain so you don't have to worry. I also have extremely good vision. My itching is minimal and now I know it's working. I still have a Martin's 10% permethrin bottle from Amazon on its way as well as some diatomaceous earth (De). I plan to add the permethrin to the spray and lotion just for extra security and the DE I'll put on everything I touch and everywhere I've been including my car. Windex with ammonia also kills them on the surface so electronics etc can be treated with that. Small stuff like wallets and lighters can be frozen over night but I'd go 2 days straight to be sure. I never needed borax for my laundry, just high heat, but I'd still get it if I were you. So much for a long story short. I hope I helped someone because you're not alone.

Vaseline +
Posted by Nina (Philippines) on 08/16/2020
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

Regarding petroleum jelly for scabies posts:

Yes, you are right.

Petroleum jelly chokes these mites. Also, sulfur cream 10% works faster if u apply petroleum jelly first before the sulfur cream. It causes the sulfur to penetrate deeper.

I had a friend who was severely infested. Permethrin creams, lemon oil, tea tree oil, neem oil, you name it she used it-- No cure. It was driving her crazy n depressed.

I always have ivermectin injectable handy coz its a very convinient antiparasite meds, knocks out mites n worms etc.

We don't have access to ivermectin tablets for humans. Nothing to buy in this remote Philippine island.

So we did an experiment. We got a syringe took out 3 cc 1% ivermectin liquid from the bottle took out the needle. Then she rubbed petroleum jelly from neck down to her feet. Made it sit for a good 10 minutes. Thick amount was applied. After that drop by drop, we rubbed the ivermectin liquid from neck down.

Let it sit for 5 minutes before putting on clothes. It itched like hell! But she bravely took it, did not scratch. After about 10 minutes, the itching subsided until it was gone entirely.

She slept through the night. We left the meds there for 10 hours before washing it off. The next day the redness was gone, the rashes were dry, and her very dry skin was not so harrassed anymore. No more itching!

The treatment was repeated the next night. So two nights in a row for the first week, then once a week for 4 weeks. Scabies gone! We did pray so much that first night of treatment n expected a miracle. And a miracle she got!

We got borax n dusted it all over her house, everywhere. Sprayed lemon oil mixed wd water all over as well. Together wd the repeated laundry, cleaning etc.

She treated her place like a warzone. Always wearing pants tucked inside thick socks.

Never using clothes more than once, never sleeping on the same clothes u wore that day. Constant dryer n washing. Different shoes n slippers in her room .

Constantly rubbing petroleum jelly.

I hope this info helps. I hope all of you reading this will pray, never give up hope and expect a miracle as well. And I know you will be cured.

Borax and Hydrogen Peroxide Soak
Posted by Terry ( Ont) on 06/14/2023
★★★★★

Well well I tried it for 3 days and it's working dried them up so fast and I went through well over 15 bottles of permethrin it's junk didn't work suffered with this for 3 years 3 days of this borax and peroxide and problem cured thankyou so much


Bitter Melon
Posted by Crystal (Nv) on 08/16/2018
★★★★★

Please get bitter melon or bitter gourd. You can find the pills at your local health food store or online (Amazon). You can find the fruit at Asian markets and juice it. This worked for me when all else failed and I had tried EVERYTHING. I had it all over my hands for close to a year and had practically given up but continued to do research and found bitter melon which is known as the scabies fruit in some foreign countries. As the name implies it is very very bitter and I am sure that it makes our bodies not a good host for the scabies parasite. They do not like the taste of it. Take it as directed.

Clove Oil
Posted by Itchynva (Charlottesville, Va) on 11/28/2012
★★★★★

I just have to say Clove Oil is the Cure. I didnt know I had scabies until 4 months after I had gotten them. It started on my buttocks and then after a couple of months I started on my lower legs and calves, I thought it was chiggers... So I treated for that, but that wasn't it and after waking up at 3 and 4 in the morning with an itch that would not quit, I started looking online for what it could be. I used lye soap which I knew would cure poison ivy, that just dried the whelps but obiously did not cure the itch. I had some relief but not much. It was only when I noticed that now my back and arms were broek out in whelps and I felt creepy crawlys in my hair and on my face but could not see anything. I read and read and read all the stuff online, I tried everything and I mean everything. I tried the baths with salt, bleach, peroxide, borax, citrus mouthwash and added essential oils to my shampoo and body lotion etc. It was only until I used only the clove oil and suggested by other people on here, did I try that and only that after a hot bath with tea tree oil, after one day the itching was gone and after day 3, the redness has gone and the itching is gone. I will continue to use this for the next month just to be sure. I am so over cleaning and washing clothes and sheets and pillow cases, but at least I can sleep now and I think I am on the road to being cured. I sure hope I dont jinx myself by writing this prematurely. Good luck to everyone that is suffering from this beast of a creature. If I can offer any advice let me know.

Borax and Hydrogen Peroxide Soak
Posted by Liz (Riverside, Calif) on 10/28/2011
★★★★★

Thanking God for this site, I had scabies, tried the cream that the Dr. gave me, two treatments one week apart, well it did not work, I was desperate and found your site. I used 2 cups of borax with 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide in a hot bath 2 times a day for 2 weeks. Soaked for 30 minutes, dipped my head for the first 5 minutes of the bath. Scabies are totally gone! My Dr says I just drowned the bugs, but I had such fast relief, the first night I slept with no itching! I don't care what the dr. says, this cured me.

P. S. I did invest in a steamer and was obsessed with cleaning for the 2weeks, and I washed bedding everyday and never wore the same thing twice without washing. Good luck to all you people fighting these little critters, try this it works! Thank you Earth Clinic.

Clove Oil
Posted by Craig` (Sydney, Nsw, Australia) on 01/21/2013
★★★★☆

Since becoming infected with scabies I have more little brown moles as well as occasional 'pimples' that are much larger with a harder lump. These lumps are more likely to remain in spite of treatments. Over time they wear down and eventually disappear. Some have remained even after months. My question is: are these bumps and moles (and I think maybe also clear 'warts') active nests even when treatments appear to have killes the mites?

Should they be removed and how is this possible? I have been using natural treatments for over four months. About a month ago I started using clove oil in the 1/3 ratio using coconut oil recommended here. The result was dramatic in terms of improvement. However, a persistent pattern has emerged - more and more parts of my body have stopped showing signs of scabies (as indicated by using an anti-paristic treatment onto the skin after a bath or shower and having mites, larvae, eggs etc rise to the surface of the skin - I believe always dead - as well as an improvement in the skin as lesions, blisters etc clear up). In these cleared up areas, there still remains an occasional persistent bump or an area where there are small brown moles. In addition, there are areas where lesions will not clear up. However certain areas will show no new signs of scabies (eg by no new lesions or no visble dead mites) for several days, only to find signs of the scabies then. This seemes to happen in areas where there are still raised lesions which feel like there is a track along them that won't break down over a long period of time. I now seem to be in a cycle where this occurs, but where the mites are gradually reducing and the return to no visible signs is more frequent. Perhaps, the treatment will eventually beat them.

My concern is that these lumps and moles may have active nests under them. If so, what to do about it? are these nests protected by some encasement or are they so deep that the topical treatments don't get to them? I've been told that the mites burrow into the lymphatic system and that certain treatments such as bleach incite the mites to burrow deeper. The reason I suspect this may be the case is because, I recently started using wild oregano oil (sometimes called wild marjoram) that have high concentrations of carvacol in it. I take this orally as well as putting it onto lesions and lumps topically. If applied to a lump or a lesion which feels like it has a trackline (i find that these are very hard to get rid of, especially on the back), then the oregano oil will seem to break down the lesion or pump a liitle bit. If you keep on rubbing the oil into the area after this happens then sometimes dead mites or eggs will emerge. When this happens there is more likely to be an outpouring of mites etc for a day or two afterwards. After the first few days of doing this, I found some kind of encased eggs (or nests?) be released - these things often were entangled in hairs - by continuing to rub them and pull them off, they tended to pull the hair out and seemed to be attached to the hair follicle. I have a great deal of trouble working out what all these things are when they are released from the skin - is it a good sign of improvement or a bad sign or is it indicative of something else? Are these eggs or nests or mites or faeces dead? are they dead after treatment while being under the lump or mole? I believe everything that leaves the skin after treatments is dead, but I can't work out if the stuff in the skin is dead or alive. The other thing I would note is that this stage of treatment is less likely to show signs of larvae leaving the skin which I found to be more common in earlier treatments with neem oil. What are other perople's experiences? should these moles and lumps be removed and, if so, how? or do they eventually just rise to the surface?

I find it interesting that oregano oil is not mentioned as being a natural treatment for scabies very much. It has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-parasitic properties to name just a few of its benefits. It would appear to kill all stages of the scabies' life cycle (although I still use clove oil daily as it kills the eggs).

There was an earlier posting about the difference between scabies in healthy and immuno-suppressed people - clearly, chronic infection is a symptom of immune problems which require a holistic approach to better health. I suspect that any chronic scabies condition needs some internal treatment (this is why western medicine uses ivermectin) - oregano oil taken internally appears to reach the scabies as evidenced by an initial worsening of itching and a flare up of the skin condition. The breaking down of persistent pumps would appear to follow this, along with the outpourings of dead things (and maybe live mites). I am only into the second week of using the oregano oil, so I can't determine success yet. Unfortunatley, clove oil alone didn't eliminate the problem. I've been on anti-parasitic internal remedies for a while, which have had a great improvement on digestive issues but not on the sacbies until I started taking the oregano oil. [One company's] health advice is tackle this parasite along with the elimination of internal parasites and toxins, along with liver detoxification and other measures to improve natural immunity. This can only be beneficial to well being, however the task seems very onerous. Sometimes I feel so exhausted and desiring of a break from the disciplined self/environmental regimes for treating chronic scabies. I hope I can endure and have success soon!

Diatomaceous Earth
Posted by Anna (KY) on 04/03/2023
★★★★★

I suffered with a terrible case of scabies for six weeks many years ago. After 3 dermatologists and many useless creams, I found a recommendation for food-grade DE. I cautiously applied it to my skin, careful not to inhale any dust which can be harmful to lungs and keep away from eyes. I went to sleep, wearing only the DE, on a sheet laid out on the floor (I was that exhausted from the laundry, cleaning bedding, and constantly cleaning the bed itself.) To my enormous relief, I woke up without the itching I had worried would literally drive me insane if it continued to intensify. In eight hours, I was cured, and no more scabies. Just a bit more cleaning to do, but with joy!


African Black Soap
Posted by Toni (Orlando, Fl) on 05/06/2016
★★★★★

To get rid of mites from the home, you must be religious about vacuuming everyday; tile and carpets. Laundry everyday in hot water and highheat drier.

Use African black soap on body and hair. Will kill the eggs and the mites instantly. First few times you lather up your skin will feel a burning sensation where there are openings on your skin. There will be a major 'dry-off' of the areas infected on your skin. First time you use the soap you may want to pause from using it again for a couple days. As your skin heals and mites disappear, you can use it daily. Use a shea butter based lotion daily. You will feel relief right away. You will sleep better right away. Check with med professional before using on children.

Good luck and God Bless.


Vaseline +
Posted by Craig (Sydney) on 11/22/2015
★★★★★

WARNING!

Another post mentioned they had bumps. I have had these bumps for three years that I could not get rid of. They are teeming with scabies and their debris and need to be broken down. The only thing that will do it is salicylic acid (3%) in a solution along with an anti-parasitic of some kind (clove oil etc). Recently I have discovered that petroleum jelly or emulsified ointment is a good medium for the other two ingredients. It is a cheap product purchased from the chemist that has wax and paraffin (vaseline and other petroleum based products would also work). The lumps are the physical evidence of a crusted area of lesions caused by the large numbers of scabies present in that region of the skin [they may look scaly or they may be like adhering lesions (clinically described as a hyperkeratonic lesion)or they may look like a scar or wart or a fungal nail infection or some other discolouration on the skin]. Untreated or not properly treated they will gradually spread out into neighbouring regions as may appear on the skin under the typical scenario of scabies with redness, blisters, scabies appearing on the surface of the skin when an anti-parasitic is rubbed onto them. After applying this treatment over a lengthy period I realised about three weeks ago that I had what would be considered crusted scabies as these lesions were over most of my body. Upon realising this I am in the beginning of a third week of a very unpleasant treatment where I take oral ivermectin every seven days and put the following application on my skin at least twice a day (ideally applied so that it is always covering the entire body except the eyes and delicate mucous membranes):

Salicylic acid 3% (breaks down lesions, softens skin, assists exfoliation, softens keratin)

Clove oil (at least5%)

Liquid coal tar (7%) (decreases production of thick cells in the outer layer of the skin, helps with the shedding of layers of hyperkeratonic lesions)

Emulsifying ointment to make up the 100%

After the second dose the scabies really started falling out at an unfathomable level and the topical application has shed many layers of the lesions. I have read several medical articles about crusted scabies and ivermectin is unable to penetrate these thick, adhering lesions and so treatment must include the topical application, which I think may have the added benefit of drowning them. In the second week I realised that my toenails were thoroughly saturated with scabies and as the treatment broke them down it increasingly has taken on the appearance of the lesions on other parts of my body.

I'm posted this as I really don't want anyone to go through this experience to the extent that I have. If you have the lumps and you think you have cleared the infection but then find a breakout again and again (often posted in these sorts of threads as 're-infected') the truth is probably more likely to be that the scabies have been reproducing and spreading throughout your skin without your knowledge. I've studied these cases and this treatment can be successful. When scabies are in your nails the case studies reported suggest that it would take at least a month to get rid of them using the combinations of oral ivermectin and the use of the emulsified ointments. Salicylic acid is essential to the treatment.

Crusted scabies is commonly misdiagnosed. I have been going crazy as my doctor thinks I have a post-scabies allergic reaction (this is the scenario of typical scabies not when you know your skin is saturated with scabies). He sent me to a specialist after three years of treating each consultation about this as another infection. The specialist read the referral and said the same thing (i had an allergic reaction), refused to take a skin scraping (as does my doctor) and then prescribed 4 repeats of ivermectin (go figure! ). I have taken samples of the many droppings of things from my skin to the doctor who won't send them away for investigation. When reading about this it would appear that most cases like this would be quarantined in a hospital but here in Australia scabies is not considered an infectious disease. It would seem that may people in the medical profession have not ever seen a case of crusted scabies until the situation has reached a critical condition and just keep on parroting out the clinical description of an initial scabies infection and then if a patient gets chronic skin problems, prescribes cortisone treatments (which in the first year or so may temporarily mask the real cause of the skin disorder. (i noticed that some posts talk about an allergic reaction as the skin tries to recover - however if the skin is saturated with scabies it seems necessary to keep on treating the skin or things are only going to get worse)

I found one research article conducted in Australia where they said that skin samples revealed a selective auto-immune response where there was too may T-cells and an absence of B cells which resulted in the skin's inability to mount an immunity response to the scabies. If anyone knows how to increase the B cells please let me know. Apparently blood samples were normal but not the skin samples. Given the enormous inflammatory response in the skin I have now increased my intake of turmeric which has an active ingredient in helping reduce inflammation (which is typically present in most chronic illnesses). I have an autoimmune disorder which worsted at the time of the scabies appearing three years ago. I am also pursuing biofilm therapies to assist with that.

Wishing you the best in your journeys to overcome this problem.


Clove Oil
Posted by Curedmyscabies (Paterson, New Jersey) on 08/25/2011
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

HELLO EVERYONE,

I have been cured of scabies for about 4 months now and feel obliged to enlighten every suffering human being of the secret. Two Words: CLOVE OIL. It can be purchased from any type of natural food store including whole foods, or online. When using it, you should probably dilute it in another type of oil, I used jojoba oil. So probably about 1 drop of clove per 2 teaspoon of jojoba. Mix it up. Rub this mixture all over the body and leave on for 15-30 minutes. Shower and make sure you have washed all of your linens and clothes beforehand with SPECIFIC DETERGENT. BORAX. ADD at least a cup and a half of borax to each load of laundry and make sure you have cleaned everything in your home or you will be reinfected. You may feel the scabies coming out or literally freaking out on your skin, like I did. They came out of tiny wholes and pretty much looked like they were suffering and eventually stopped moving after 20 minutes which is when I showered. It took me a few times to completely get rid of them, so don't feel hopeless if it doesnt work the first time. BUT IT WORKS! It took me approximately 4-5 days to completely rid them and I'm glad I did. Hopefully you guys will take my advice and no longer suffer. G-d Bless!

Diatomaceous Earth
Posted by Gary (Kitchener On) on 03/06/2023
★★★★★

I got rid of my battle with scabies and they never returned. I put Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth all over my body at bedtime. I did it 3 nights and they never came back. Make sure it is Food Grade.

Best of luck

Gary


Sea Salt Bath
Posted by Thankful (Australia) on 09/03/2018
★★★★★

Sea Salt Bath cured scabies in 4 days

I tried lots of things for my second bout of scabies, white vinegar spray, peroxide and DMSO spray, borax bath, everything worked for so long then plateaued, the vinegar spray (50% water/50% Vinegar) and peroxide (3% with DMSO) worked the best, applying 3 - 5 times a day, you could see them coming out of the skin with both products, but still not total annihilation of these blood-sucking mites after nearly 3 months. I read a 10 year old post about sea salt bath, well all done and dusted after 4 days, 100 liters of hot water (as hot as possibly stand) in tub and 1.5 kilograms of sea salt with little or no anti-caking agents as possible in AU Saxa sea salt was best. soaked for 10 minutes back and front, and both sides, left nothing un-soaked, even scrubbed skin to loosen top skin and open pores. Give it a try. You won't be disappointed.



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