Staying Healthy in Child Care - National Health and Medical ...

Controlling the spread of infection
All close (skin-to-skin) contacts and other people in the same household should be
treated at the same time, even if no itching or other symptoms are present. By the time
scabies is diagnosed in one person, many other people may have been infested. If
everyone is not treated at the same time, treatment is likely to be unsuccessful.
Contaminated underwear, bed linen and other clothing worn by infested people in the
48 hours prior to treatment should be washed in hot water and detergent. All items
such as toys which cannot be washed or dry-cleaned should be placed in a plastic bag
for 4 days to kill any mites or eggs.
It is not likely that scabies will be spread by furniture, carpets, mattresses, etc but they
could be vacuumed or gently ironed.
Treatment
Skin disease caused by mites can easily be confused with other skin diseases.
Treatment should not begin until a doctor has confirmed the diagnosis following
examination of a skin scraping for mites. This is particularly important for babies,
pregnant women or people who already have other forms of skin disease.
Treatment involves application of insecticidal cream, lotion or solution as prescribed
by a doctor. If the mite has spread within the centre, all staff and children will need to
be treated at the same time.
Animals with skin disease caused by mites (mange) should be treated. A vet should
examine a skin scraping to confirm the presence of mites and identify whether the
mite can spread to humans. Animals and their bedding should then be treated with
insecticidal washes, according to the vet’s instructions.
115
Draft for Public Consultation