An Outbreak of Scabies in Neurosurgery-Intensive Care Unit of a General Hospital

Kim, Hee Sup; Jung, Young Jong; Kim, Soo Yeun; Kim, Ji Ho; Nam, Hae Jung; Kim, Choon Kwan

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Scabies outbreaks have been reported in long-term care facilities, but less commonly in acute care facilities. We experienced an outbreak of scabies that occurred in neurosurgery-intensive care unit of a general hospital, Seoul, Korea.
METHODS
An outbreak of scabies was noticed on September 2006 when hospital staffs of NICU were diagnosed with scabies. The infection control nurse reviewed medical records and interviewed all of patient in NICU and health care workers. The epidemic spread of scabies from a patient to other patient, hospital employees and their families and associates was identified from historical, clinical, and microbiologic skin preparation data.
RESULTS
Forty-three NICU patients and 22 health care workers were investigated. Five scabies cases were identified in total of 42 cases who are exposed to index case with attack rate of 11.9%. The attack rate of scabies in health care workers and NICU patients were 10% and 13.6%, respectively. Tertiary cases also occurred among the family members of workers, with a tertiary attack rate of 44%.
CONCLUSION
The patient of acute care facilities also have chances of being exposed to scabies outbreak, since sensorimotor deficits or cognitive disorders make it difficult for individuals to communicate and understand the implication of risky contacts.