The Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD) is urging people who have been in contact with its health facilities to be on the lookout for the symptoms of scabies as it responds to an outbreak of the contagious skin condition. 

An initial case of scabies was confirmed at Wollongong Hospital in late July and immediate steps were taken to limit transmission. The District is undertaking a thorough and extensive tracing process of both staff and patients and continues to contact people who may be directly impacted, or at higher risk of developing symptoms.

ISLHD Chief Executive Margot Mains said 11 patients and 23 staff have been diagnosed with scabies to date, which is impacting a number of wards across four ISLHD hospital sites – Wollongong, Coledale, Shellharbour and Bulli. “Scabies is a common and very treatable condition. While it can be effectively managed in households, much like headlice, it can be difficult to contain especially in a hospital setting where patients are grouped together and there is a high transit level of staff between wards,” said Ms Mains.

“Because scabies has an incubation period of up to 6-8 weeks, is easily transmitted and can have minimal symptoms initially, there may be undetected cases within our facilities and community. To prevent the risk of further transmission, the District will provide preventative treatment for all current inpatients and staff across all our hospital sites and services,” she said. 

ISLHD Executive Director Medical Services Dr Karen Murphy said patients discharged from hospital since mid-May are being urged to watch for symptoms and contact their GP should they develop an itchy rash. “While scabies is usually treated effectively with no long-term complications, the condition can be unpleasant and requires treatment to kill the infestation,” Dr Murphy said.

Scabies Facts 

• Scabies is a treatable skin condition caused by a mite known as Sarcoptes scabiei, which leads to an itchy rash. 
• It is usually spread through prolonged skin-to-skin contact or sometimes sharing bedding and towels, or direct handling of linen. 
• Symptoms include an itchy rash, commonly found between the fingers and in skin folds. 
• Itching is usually worse at night or after a hot bath or shower. 

Further information about scabies can be found on the healthdirect website: www.healthdirect.gov.au/scabies#what-is 

Members of the community with questions about the scabies outbreak response can email the District on [email protected]. The community can also phone healthdirect on 1800 022 222 for 24-hour health advice. Healthdirect has been briefed on the District’s scabies outbreak response.

Member for Kiama Gareth Ward encourages the community to follow the advice but had a lot to say regarding the health officials handling of the matter. “Local Members of Parliament were summonsed to a briefing today at 10AM by the local health district and I’m grateful for the briefing. However, local media and the public weren’t advised formally until late afternoon. I received a copy of a media release at 4:22PM from the Illawarra-Shoalhaven Health District which confirmed the outbreak,” Mr Ward said. 

“I’ve been told confidentially that local health officials have known about the outbreak for almost two weeks, yet the public were only advised today. 

“Worse still, the area that appears to be most impacted is the electorate of the Minister for Health who is also the Minister for the Illawarra, but we are yet to hear from him on this outbreak.

“This Minister must answer some very important questions. 

• When was the first case of scabies detected in the Illawarra-Shoalhaven Health District? 
• When was the prevalence of scabies elevated to an ‘outbreak’? 
• When was the Minister’s office and the Minister briefed on the scabies outbreak? 
• What additional resources will be allocated to our district to deal with the outbreak? 
• What outreach has occurred to all local schools, aged care and nursing home providers, NDIS support services, GPs and homelessness services?

“Our community suffered enormously through COVID. Surely, our health officials have learned something about how to better communicate with the public and how to deal with a health situation. Given the billions of dollars, the hurt and pain experienced through COVID, surely, we can do better than this. “I will be pursuing these questions in Parliament this week,” Mr Ward concluded.