A case of scabies was reported at the NH. Precautions have been taken: bathing of all residents, lotion applied etc. How serious is this? Should I be worried?
I work in Alzheimer's and I have a resident that has body mites but even though I have reported my concerns to the DON, nothing is being done, while my resident sufferes nightly. I have had crawling sensation and several bites as well as a few if my co- workers. What should I do
How is the hygiene at the place otherwise? What is their written plan for stamping out the infestation? Have the got the person on room restriction so they don't infect everybody else?
Scabies can be very mild or very miserable. For some years I had a friend living at my house, and she developed scabies after she adopted a stray dog. She was washing her hair, body, clothes, bedding several times a day, all the used laundry was kept in plastic garbage bags, It took her at least a month to get over it; I also washed everything and used an herbal lotion I put together myself from my own research. I had one small area that might have been the parasites. Look for trails of red spots particularly on wrists and arms. The problem with moving your loved one is that other facilities are not going to want a move-in that might bring the bugs. If the facility is generally well-kept, and they are actively treating the situation, she's probably better where she is. Do keep it monitored!
The person who has them should be quarenteened. Where my daughter works, the patient had been brought from the hospital which either didn't detect the problem or didn't want to deal with it. Seems the patient had been complaining about the horrible itching for months prior. So, it doesn't always mean it started with that facility. A patient could bring them in.
We lived in a IND Living situation while our home was being repaired from our fire. While we were there, my Partner got a skin rash that lasted for over 8 months until he died. The Dermatologist called it "Spongy Dermatology" which is what they call a rash that has no finding. I swear he caught something at that place. He was miserable and I had to put medication and lotion all over his body day and night. The itching was horrible. Poor baby, he could not even sleep it itched so much. I never caught it, so they thought maybe it was the medications He could not come off of all meds, so he had the rash until he died. It was so sad.
It is not uncommon for something like this to happen in a NH/group living situation. The response of the facility to it is key. If they only treat the people who seem to have it then I think it is more likely to spread than if they treat everyone at the same time and do a thorough cleaning of the facility. It may take a few treatments to get rid of it for good. We have been through this a few times. You likely can ask for a visit from a dermatologist or perhaps take your loved one out to see one if the situation is not taken care of quickly or you have concerns about it.
I don't know personal I would get your loved one s skin better and get them out of there its a major sign of bad health code rules they should have ck the skin and personal things on every one who lived there my daughter had scaves from sleeping and wearing friends clothing its not pleasant and can lead to many dangerous infections
No, you shouldn't worry, just look for signs of mites burrowing whenever you go. The staff is using a lotion that kills mites, I am sure. You may want to make sure that your loved one skin isn't sensitive to the lotion. The treatments are normally very mild.
These things happen in a community setting.