Poor Hygiene Management, Public Health at Risk
Recently, a cluster outbreak of scabies, a contagious skin disease, occurred at a nursing home operated by Yeongyang-gun, causing a serious public health crisis in the local community.
This infectious disease is particularly prone to occur in unsanitary environments and spreads rapidly through contact, making immediate response by relevant authorities essential when it breaks out in long-term care facilities such as nursing homes.
However, in this incident, Yeongyang-gun health authorities have been criticized for failing to clearly disclose the risk and for not implementing appropriate quarantine measures to prevent the spread. As a result, additional transmission cases between residents and staff have occurred.
Scabies is a skin infection caused by mites. Forms such as Norwegian scabies are highly contagious and can spread quickly in communal living settings. The scabies mite parasitizes human skin, lays eggs, and causes severe itching and rashes, especially between the fingers, wrists, and genital areas.
Nursing facilities where communal living occurs are environments with a very high risk of transmission, and elderly individuals with reduced skin sensitivity often have difficulty recognizing symptoms. This makes accurate diagnosis in the early stages of infection challenging, creating conditions for a rapid increase in infected individuals.
According to the Korean Dermatological Association, the infection rate of scabies in nursing facilities is on the rise again due to the increasing elderly population.
When an infectious disease occurs, the person in charge of the nursing facility and health authorities have an obligation to immediately disclose the infection and take quarantine measures to prevent its spread. Failure to disclose the infection increases the risk of community spread through staff and visitors.
For example, in a scabies outbreak at a nursing hospital in Busan in 2020, it was reported that family members who were unaware of the infection experienced a cluster infection.
A health official pointed out, “Due to the nature of scabies, it is essential to distinguish and isolate infected individuals from non-infected ones.”
Infected individuals should undergo dermatological diagnosis and receive systemic treatment, and used clothing and bedding must be washed and isolated. During treatment, medical creams or oral medications should be used to prevent transmission.
The health official added, “If administrative authorities fail to carry out basic quarantine procedures and try to conceal the problem, it is tantamount to neglecting the health and safety of the residents.”
Yeongyang-gun must conduct a thorough investigation and clarify responsibility for this incident to prevent recurrence of similar accidents, and there is a need to reorganize hygiene management and infectious disease response systems in nursing facilities.
The Korean Dermatological Association and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency are already promoting national health projects to eradicate infectious diseases in nursing facilities, but responses remain inadequate in regional quarantine blind spots like Yeongyang-gun.
A local resident emphasized, “Local governments must strengthen hygiene management systems in nursing facilities and thoroughly establish response manuals for infectious disease outbreaks.”
This incident is expected to serve as an important litmus test for assessing the quarantine responsibility and response capability of local administrations in public health crisis situations, beyond a simple hygiene issue in nursing facilities.
Skin on the hand of a patient infected with scabies mites. [Image source=Gachon University Gil Medical Center]
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