What to Know
- One patient and a dozen staffers were being treated for scabies at the Washington DC VA Medical Center
- Precautions were ordered to prevent the spread of scabies
- The VA complex has continued its operations in the meantime
At least one patient and a dozen staffers are being treated for scabies at a community living center at the Washington DC VA Medical Center, the News-4 I-Team has learned.
The patient was diagnosed last week. Medical teams ordered precautions to prevent the spread to other patients.
The medical center is offering treatment to the 12 employees who were potentially exposed. A spokeswoman would not specify if the workers have contracted confirmed cases of scabies, but specified the workers have been "impacted" by it.
The I-Team has learned other residents, residents' families and staffers have been notified. The community living center at the VA complex has continued its operations in the meantime.
No other patients have been affected, a spokeswoman said.
Scabies is a skin condition caused by mites and can cause intense itching as the mite burrows into the skin, according to the Mayo Clinic. The condition most often impacts folds in the skin, including between the fingers, around the waist and the soles of the feet.
Multiple staffers confirmed the scabies scare at the community living center to the I-Team.
The DC VA Medical Center's community living center is a 120-bed residential community for veterans. The patients include those with chronic conditions requiring comprehensive nursing care.
A sporadic outbreak of scabies impacted a Virginia VA medical center in 2011.
To curtail the spread of scabies, medical center teams issued visitor restrictions during the 2011 outbreak in Salem, Va.
