Scabies can be acquired in healthcare settings, and its control can be challenging.
Nosocomial spread may occur in:
(1) nursing homes or other long-term care centers
(2) intensive care units
(3) general wards
Other patients, nurses and other healthcare workers are at risk.
Risk factors for nosocomial spread:
(1) delay in diagnosis, including lack of familiarity with atypical presentations
(2) poor knowledge of scabies epidemiology
(3) long incubation period
(4) inadequate monitoring
(5) failure to decontaminate environmental surfaces, including use of acaricides/scabicides
(6) inadequate isolation practices and/or barrier precautions
(7) inadequate treatment of diagnosed patients, including noncompliance
(8) failure to provide prophylaxis to exposed individuals
(9) failure to trace exposures, including discharged patients
(10) crusted scabies
(11) high patient turnover
