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RitcheyRch
01-19-2007, 07:46 PM
http://www.the-signal.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=45726&format=html
There has been an outbreak of a skin condition in Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital's 26-bed Transitional Care Unit, a hospital spokeswoman confirmed Thursday afternoon.
To date, three TCU employees have been diagnosed with scabies, an infestation of the skin with microscopic mites, hospital spokeswoman Andie Bogdan said.
The Health Department defines an "outbreak" as two or more cases in a single facility.
Additionally, 17 TCU employees have complained of a rash and been offered treatment as a precaution, Bogdan said.
An ointment is being provided to employees for treatment, she said.
Though no patients have been diagnosed with scabies, Bogdan said that doesn't mean none has complained of rashes.
"We have not yet been able to identify the source of the employee-contracted scabies," Jeanne Schnell, Henry Mayo's employee health nurse wrote in an e-mail to The Signal. "Not having a source is highly unusual."
The most conclusive diagnostic tool is a skin scraping and critical biopsy, though Bogdan said in the case of the three Henry Mayo employees, the diagnosis was a visual examination.
Spread through human contact, scabies results in pimple-like irritations, intense itching and sores on the body, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms can take up to six weeks to appear.
"We're very aware of (employees') concerns," she said. "We're going to get to the bottom of it."
On Thursday morning, two TCU staff members said the hospital has done little to remedy the situation.
Since Dec. 2, employees and patients in the TCU have been exposed to scabies, said a TCU employee, who said she was infected and spoke with The Signal on a condition of anonymity.
The infestation has also spread to employees' families, she said.
She said a doctor at first diagnosed the problem as a rash, which later proved to be scabies when a skin scraping was taken and analyzed.
Concerned staff have been referred to the walk-in clinic located on the Henry Mayo campus, she said.
The problem was eventually reported to the county Health Department, she said, and officials visited the TCU on Saturday.
After several days out of work to care for her child - who she said contracted the infestation from her - she returned to learn that while Health Department officials had visited the TCU and "gave instructions," little was done as a remedy.
Ideally, she said the TCU should be quarantined for three days to decontaminate the patients, staff and facilities.
"The hospital is beating around the bush," she said, and added that she called the Health Department again on Thursday morning and intended to call the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Bogdan said a quarantine period did not come up in discussions about how to deal with the problem, and said "it would probably be pretty tough."
A second employee called The Signal to say she contracted scabies, and added that to compensate for TCU staff that have refused to come in until the problem is addressed, the hospital has brought in employees from other parts of Henry Mayo. Those employees, she said, have not been properly apprised of the situation.
She said the TCU has a staff about 30 scheduled staff members, in addition to therapists and other staff members from the hospital that work in the unit, and housekeeping crews.
"It just needs to be taken care of," she said. "Look at the date we're at already."
The situation is being investigated, said Norma Arceo, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health Services.
If the investigation is completed and a problem is found, she said "we make sure the facility takes steps to correct it."
That would include the hospital being monitored by a health official, she said.
A three-day quarantine would be a recommended measure if the situation is as bad as described, Arceo said, and added that "our goal is that the (problem) is corrected."