Scab alarm in the Klinikum Coburg

In Klinikum Coburg several patients have been infected with scabies

24/11/2014

In Klinikum Coburg several patients are affected by scabies. This is reported by the online edition of „New Press Coburg“. However, the press spokeswoman for the Regiomed-Klinikum-Verbund, Birgit Schwabe, reportedly emphasized that the illness was not due to a hygiene problem in the hospital, but that more cases of scabies were occurring in the region.

Patients with scabies suffer from itchy rash
Scabies (Scabies) is a parasitic skin disease that is accompanied by red pustules, intense itching and pain. The cause of the unpleasant symptoms are scratch mites, which deposit the bugs and eggs in the skin of those affected, where they cause allergic reactions.

Itching mites usually seek out areas of the body with a thin horny layer and a higher body temperature, so that in particular finger spaces, wrists, elbows, genital area, buttocks, navel, armpits, the area behind the ears, knees, joint bends, ankles and feet are affected. In infants, the neck and head are often affected. First, the infection runs without symptoms. Only after about two to five weeks does it come to an immune reaction with the typical symptoms.

Several patients are currently affected by this unpleasant disease at Coburg Hospital. According to the newspaper, more cases of scabies have been registered nationwide this year than usual. According to the report, several patients at Klinikum Coburg were treated for other health problems, which later turned out to be the cause of scabies. In this way, it came also via skin contact for infection of hospital staff. According to Schwabe, there is no reason to panic. „The disease is unpleasant, but it can be treated well, "the press secretary is quoted by the newspaper.

Image: Dieter Schütz