A scabies outbreak which affected Wollongong Hospital has been contained. Photo: ISLHD.
The scabies outbreak in a number of Illawarra health facilities has been contained, with no new cases reported since earlier this month.
The Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD) has concluded its public health measures to control the outbreak.
The number of cases has remained unchanged since Friday 9 August, five days after the start of a mass roll-out of precautionary treatment for clinical staff and inpatients at all hospital sites and services across the Illawarra and Shoalhaven.
An initial case of scabies was confirmed at Wollongong Hospital in late July. The outbreak impacted a number of wards across four ISLHD hospital sites at Wollongong, Coledale, Shellharbour and Bulli.
Scabies is a treatable skin condition caused by a mite known as Sarcoptes scabiei, which leads to an itchy rash. It is usually spread through prolonged skin-to-skin contact or sometimes sharing bedding and towels, or direct handling of linen.
ISLHD Executive Director Medical Services Dr Karen Murphy said 20 patients and 28 staff were diagnosed with scabies.
“Scabies is usually treated effectively with no long-term complications, but the condition can be unpleasant and requires treatment to kill the infestation, much like headlice,” she said.
“The last case of scabies linked to this outbreak was detected more than two weeks ago, and more than 72 hours has now passed since the last of our clinical staff and inpatients had their second dose of preventative medication.
“This means there has been no further spread and the transmission risk from this outbreak has been mitigated.”
A total of 1154 patients received a course of preventive medication during the outbreak and 3857 clinical staff, students, volunteers and others who have prolonged skin-to-skin contact with patients received preventive medication.
ISLHD Chief Executive Margot Mains said the district’s swift response to this outbreak enabled a rapid containment.
“The management of this outbreak is further proof that the skills developed, and lessons learned by our workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic has better prepared our health services to rapidly and effectively deal with any infectious outbreak,” she said.
“We want to remind locals, while the hospital outbreak is now over, scabies will always remain prevalent in the community, including in schools and care facilities, so we urge people to see their GP if they develop a highly itchy rash.”
Visit the healthdirect website for more information about scabies.
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