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Leistner R, Buchwald D, Beyer M, et al. Scabies outbreak among healthcare workers in a German acute care hospital. J Infect Prev. 2017;18(4):189-192doi: 10.1177/1757177417690920.
Leistner, R., Buchwald, D., Beyer, M., & Philipp, S. (2017). Scabies outbreak among healthcare workers in a German acute care hospital. Journal of infection prevention, 18(4), 189-192. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757177417690920
Leistner, Rasmus, et al. "Scabies outbreak among healthcare workers in a German acute care hospital." Journal of infection prevention vol. 18,4 (2017): 189-192. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1757177417690920
Leistner R, Buchwald D, Beyer M, Philipp S. Scabies outbreak among healthcare workers in a German acute care hospital. J Infect Prev. 2017 Jul;18(4):189-192. doi: 10.1177/1757177417690920. Epub 2017 Feb 01. PMID: 28989526; PMCID: PMC5496690.
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J Infect Prev. 2017 Jul;18(4):189-192. doi: 10.1177/1757177417690920. Epub 2017 Feb 01.

Scabies outbreak among healthcare workers in a German acute care hospital.

Journal of infection prevention

Rasmus Leistner, Dirk Buchwald, Marc Beyer, Sandra Philipp

Affiliations

  1. Institute of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
  2. Department of Hospital Hygiene, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Havelhöhe, Berlin, Germany.
  3. Department of Dermatology, Venerology and Allergology, Chariteplatz 1, Berlin, Germany.

PMID: 28989526 PMCID: PMC5496690 DOI: 10.1177/1757177417690920

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This article reports on a scabies outbreak among healthcare workers (HCW) in an acute care hospital. The outbreak was associated with a patient suffering from a chronic skin disease that was later diagnosed as crusted scabies.

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to determine the outbreak drivers and define a prevention strategy against future outbreaks.

METHODS: All staff that had contact with the patient were treated with 5% permethrin ointment. An interdisciplinary outbreak investigation team was established. The team conducted a questionnaire-based case-control study.

FINDINGS: After the permethrin treatment, no further case was found. Twenty-seven HCWs who had contact with the index patient answered the questionnaire (response rate 73%). The outbreak questionnaire revealed 13 cases of secondary scabies among HCWs. In the multivariable analysis, a lack of glove use (odds ratio [OR], 9.8;

DISCUSSION: The scabies outbreak was most likely driven by three factors: an index patient with crusted scabies; a delayed diagnosis of this patient; and close physical contact without gloves during his hospital stay. The use of disposable gloves for patients with unclear dermatological diagnosis have the potential to limit future scabies outbreaks.

Keywords: Norwegian scabies; Scabies; crusted scabies; outbreak

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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