Reply To: Scabies

[Carrie Spinks]

Hi Parisha,

Sounds very challenging

Due to the long incubation period (2-6weeks) the mite can present as rid, when in in fact it is not.

I notice you are in NSW/Sydney and hence provided some great resource links to base facility management: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/pests/parasites/Pages/scabies.aspx

First question to ask: what type of scabies has the home got? Is there pathological confirmation? Determining the type of scabies will dictate treatment.

Are there any staff with symptoms (as well as residents) – this is important to identify, isolate and treat.

Tip: Scabies is person to person contact and hence removal of trees may not alter transmission. Scabies can only live up to 2-3 days without a human host.

In my experience it’s often timing and organisation that is essential in the management of scabies – aligning everything up: 24hrs case isolation after treatment, topical treatment for residents, frequent visitors and staff (addition of oral for cases if crusted), cleaning/disinfection and laundering or bagging non-washable items 72hrs.

Consider breaking management down to actions on day 1, day 2, day 7 and day 8.

Happy to email tips directly to you – content is a bit long to post online.

This is a great topic for a 2026 Aged Care COP webinar – thanks for the tip.

Regards Carrie

• This reply was modified 10 months ago by Carrie Spinks.
• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by Carrie Spinks.