The public health importance of scabies in community domiciliary care settings an exploratory cross-sectional survey of Heal.pdf (117 kB)
The public health importance of scabies in community domiciliary care settings: an exploratory cross-sectional survey of health protection teams in England
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 20:58 authored by Emily Phipps, Maaike E Pietzsch, Jackie Cassell, Clare HumphreysScabies is a contagious skin infection commonly occurring in institutions such as care homes. However, a large proportion of vulnerable people in England receive domiciliary care in the community and their experience of scabies has not been described. We undertook a pragmatic cross-sectional survey of Health Protection Teams (HPTs) in England to determine the burden of scabies related to domiciliary care. Fifteen cases or outbreaks were notified to HPTs between January 2013 and December 2017. Although a relatively uncommon event for individual HPTs, they were complex to manage and required the co-ordination of multiple stakeholders. Diagnosis was often delayed and required several clinical consultations. A lack of guidance led to difficulties establishing stakeholder roles and responsibilities and sources of funding for treatment. The stigmatisation of scabies sometimes affected the quality of care provided to patients, such as use of excessive personal protective equipment. Our study demonstrates that scabies is an issue of public health importance for domiciliary care service providers and users, and research is required to better understand the impacts of the disease and to develop evidence-based guidance. More generally, there is a need for simpler treatment regimens and methods of diagnosing scabies.
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Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
Epidemiology and InfectionISSN
0950-2688Publisher
Cambridge University PressExternal DOI
Volume
147Article number
e239Event location
EnglandDepartment affiliated with
- Primary Care and Public Health Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2020-03-26First Open Access (FOA) Date
2020-03-26First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2020-03-26Usage metrics
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