Scabies: 40 Jupiter Medical staffers treated after patient diagnosed

JUPITER — A cancer patient admitted to Jupiter Medical Center last month brought along a case of scabies, possibly infecting staff members with the contagious skin affliction, the hospital said Thursday.

The critical-care cancer patient was admitted to the main campus’ intensive-care unit in early November, Jupiter Medical Center spokesperson Rachel Mills said. Personnel later determined the patient had scabies, according to a statement released Thursday.

Citing symptoms and possible contact, the hospital treated 40 care providers once the patient’s condition became known, said Dr. Raymond Golish, Jupiter Medical Center’s chief quality officer, at a news conference Thursday. There’s no indication any other patient developed scabies, Golish added.

Hallmarks of the condition, caused by tiny mites burrowing into the skin, include rashes and serious itching, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can be spread indirectly through bedding or clothing, but is more easily transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, according to the CDC.

Symptoms may not show for up to six weeks. Scabies is treated with prescription-grade creams that kill the mites.

>> JUPITER READERS: Sign up for the weekly Post on Jupiter newsletter here

The patient is no longer at the hospital, Mills said, and the hospital is “aggressively treating” those who have come into close contact with the workers who were affected.

Jupiter Medical Center reported the case to the Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County on Wednesday. Staffers in contact with the patient were first notified Nov. 22, while lab results confirmed a positive diagnosis of scabies for the patient on Nov. 25.

Asked about that nine-day gap between the lab confirmation and the health department report, Golish said the hospital was “taking aggressive measures as our primary responsibility to treatment the patient” and others. Notifying the health department was a separate matter of surveillance and monitoring, he said.

Golish described the patient as an out-of-towner who was traveling and had a compromised immune system.

>> RELATED: Jupiter Medical Center picks new CEO: ‘He really has that wow factor’

“It’s important for you to know Jupiter Medical Center has followed all the guidelines for the prevention and treatment (of scabies) published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” Golish said.

The intensive-care unit of the hospital also was decontaminated, Golish said.

“At this point, we are past the peak of the outbreak,” Mills said.

There hasn’t been an incident of this nature involving scabies at Jupiter Medical Center in recent memory, Golish added.

Anyone concerned that they may have come into contact with the scabies outbreak are encouraged to call the hospital’s hotline at 561-263-2899.

showard@pbpost.com

@SamuelHHoward