Scabies Outbreak Closes Welsh Wards: Biggest Symptom to Watch
A west Wales health board closed four hospital wards over a scabies outbreak, confirming the move on November 6. Intense itching, worse at night, is the biggest symptom to watch for in the highly contagious skin condition. Recently discharged patients are being contacted.
Hywel Dda University Health Board in west Wales confirmed on November 6 that it had closed four hospital wards to control a scabies outbreak. Intense itching is the biggest symptom to watch for in the highly contagious skin condition.
Three wards at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen and one ward at Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli are affected.
The board had already closed wards during the summer and again in October to cope with scabies. Visitors have been warned to take precautions, and some wards restrict who can enter. Staff are using extra protective equipment.
Sharon Daniel, the board's executive director of patient experience, said "additional infection prevention measures and a co-ordinated treatment programme are in place to protect patients, staff and visitors and help prevent further spread."
She said patients recently discharged from the wards have been contacted directly. The board says the major disruption has been contained, and affected areas remain under enhanced precautions and surveillance.
Daniel said staff stay alert because "the transmission pathway crosses hospital, staff, community and care-home settings." She thanked patients and families for their understanding of the extra precautions.
What to look for
The most obvious sign of scabies is intense itching. It gets worse at night.
Some people also notice tiny silver or grey thread-like lines on the skin. These are made by microscopic mites burrowing under the top layer. Pimple-like spots or a red, itchy rash may appear alongside them.
In adults, mites tend to cluster between the fingers and in skin folds at the wrist, elbow, knee and armpit. They also burrow around the waist, on the buttocks and shoulder blades, in the nipples and in the penis.
Children and babies are more likely to get rashes on the face, neck, palms, head and soles of the feet.
How it spreads
Anyone can catch scabies through prolonged skin contact with an infested person. Sharing towels, bedding or clothes with someone contagious can also pass it on.
Symptoms can take between four and eight weeks to appear after the initial infestation. People can still spread the mites to others during that time.
Female mites burrow into the skin, where they feed, expel waste and lay eggs. They lay two to three eggs a day throughout their lifespan. The eggs hatch into larvae within three to four days.
The larvae travel to the skin surface and stay there until they are old enough to reproduce. Then the cycle repeats and the mites can move to other parts of the body.
The itching does not come from mites crawling over the skin. It is a mildly allergic reaction to their proteins, eggs and the waste left under the skin.
Scabies is closely associated with a run of Victorian-era diseases resurfacing in modern Britain. Measles cases have also been rising since 2021.
