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Article: Scabies: A creepy bug strikes fear in workers.
- Article from:
- Hospital Infection Control
- Article date:
- August 1, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 A Thomson Healthcare Company. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Scabies: A creepy bug strikes fear in workers
Nosocomial mite outbreaks on the rise
Forget antibiotic-resistant pathogens and even bloodborne infections. If you want to strike fear in the heart of health care workers, mention scabies.
Scabies is a transmissible infestation of the skin with a real bug, the burrowing microscopic mite Sarcoptes scabiei. Even after you kill them, they stay under your skin until it sloughs off.
We have had employees take care of people with tuberculosis and meningitis, but you have something like this, and the panic was unbelievable, says Alexis Raimondi, RN, infection control practitioner at Beth Israel ...