Tiny parasites forced one of Erie County’s largest nursing homes to repeatedly disinfect its Alzheimer’s unit and treat many of its residents.

Fifteen residents of the Gallagher Center of Saint Mary’s Home East, 607 E. 26th St., developed what physicians believe was scabies, a contagious skin infection caused by skin mites. An unknown number of staff and patients’ family members also developed the condition.

“We never found the organism on any patient, but based on their symptoms, we believe it was scabies,” said Dorothy Candib, M.D., Saint Mary’s Home medical director.

The first case was reported in the spring, though most cases were reported in June and July, Candib said. The original patient was treated by a dermatologist, but other cases followed.

The first case was identified after family members came down with scabies following a visit to their relative in the hospital:

Carla Slomski and several members of her family developed scabies after visiting their father, Thomas Piotrowicz, who was a resident in the Gallagher unit until his death April 30.

Apparently the problem is cleared up now. According to the article, no one currently has scabies in this unit.

You can read the article here.

This photo shows someone with scabies on her hand, after six days’ development:

According to the CDC’s page on scabies, the symptoms are:

• Pimple-like irritations, burrows or rash of the skin, especially the webbing between the fingers; the skin folds on the wrist, elbow, or knee; the penis, the breast, or shoulder blades.
• Intense itching, especially at night and over most of the body.
• Sores on the body caused by scratching. These sores can sometimes become infected with bacteria.

Scabies can take 4-6 weeks to appear after exposure. You can catch scabies by prolonged skin-to-skin contact with others, or by sharing items that touch the skin, like towels, unwashed clothing, and sheets. (The CDC website says it is not commonly caught via a handshake or a hug.)

If you think you have scabies, do not try to treat it on your own. See a doctor.

Sometimes other conditions (like bed bug bites) can be mistaken for scabies, even by a doctor.

It’s a good idea to ask your doctor to confirm the presence of scabies, by doing a skin scraping. But remember, even a negative result from the scraping does not mean you do not have scabies.

If you do have scabies, you need to be treated with a prescription medication. One treatment usually works, but if not, the doctor will want you to repeat it or try another lotion. In order to make sure you don’t get it again from your clothing and sheets, you will also need to wash and dry all worn clothing and bedding on hot.

Photos of scabies on skin from the University of Iowa Hardin MD site.

Here’s a page on scabies (La sarna) in Spanish.

Scabies mites look like the following picture, but of course, you won’t be able to see them.

Scabies, by MacAllen Brothers (Micah MacAllen). Used under a Creative Commons Attibution/Share-Alike license.