Korean J healthc assoc Infect Control Prev.  2019 Jun;24(1):1-10. 10.14192/kjhaicp.2019.24.1.1.

A Survey on the Scabies Outbreak and Infection Control

• Kim SJ
• Jeong JS
• Park ES
• Choi SH

• KMID: 2451552
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.14192/kjhaicp.2019.24.1.1

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Scabies is a skin disease caused by Sarcoptesscabiei var. hominis and is transmitted through skin contact. In Korea, its prevalence has decreased since 1990 to approximately <1%. However, recently, the number of patients with scabies has been increasing.
METHODS
In this study, 70 hospitals with ≥100 beds and an infection control department were selected by convenient sampling. This study was a cross-sectional survey using a retrospective self-report questionnaire. We surveyed the yearly frequency of scabies infections at the selected hospitals from January 1, 2009, to April 30, 2014. The characteristics and infection controls of cases in the latest outbreaks were documented.
RESULTS
The mean number of beds was 607.8. Of the surveyed hospitals, 44% performed screening for scabies on admission. There were 43 (86.0%) hospitals in which an occurrence of scabies (outpatients, inpatients, staff) was reported at the infection control department during the sampling period, and the yearly percentage increased steadily. Thirty hospitals (60.0%) experienced a scabies outbreak, and the mean age of patients during the scabies outbreak was 70.2 years. Accordingly, 66.7% of the patients were admitted through long-term care facilities. Among the patients with scabies, 47.0% had pruritus on admission, and the mean period until the diagnosis of scabies was 27.3 (1-150) days. At the outbreak of scabies, 64.5% of patients were isolated to a single room. In addition, gowns (83.9%) and gloves (90.3%) were implemented, and used linens were placed in a plastic bag and the bag was sealed airtight, labeled, and disposed separately (86.6%). In 67.7% of the patients, environmental disinfection was conducted in the same way as that for other (non-outbreak) patients' rooms.
CONCLUSION
It is necessary for each hospital to prepare a scabies screening system that is fit to be used on patients at their admission in order to control the outbreak of scabies. In the future, additional surveys will need to be conducted to identify control measures for scabies infection in long-term care facilities.

Keyword

Attack rate; Infection control; Outbreak; Scabies

MeSH Terms

Bedding and Linens
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diagnosis
Disease Outbreaks
Disinfection
Humans
Infection Control*
Inpatients
Korea
Long-Term Care
Mass Screening
Patients' Rooms
Plastics
Prevalence
Pruritus
Retrospective Studies
Scabies*
Skin
Skin Diseases
Plastics

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Yearly number of hospitals which experienced scabies and number of associated patients. *Only 4 months (from January to April) data were analysed.

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