HILO — Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home in Hilo is fighting an outbreak of scabies.
Administrator David Pettijohn on Monday provided a written statement that confirmed the facility, which is managed by Avalon Health Care, has experienced an outbreak of scabies and is working to resolve the matter for residents and staff.
Pettijohn did not respond to emailed questions about how many individuals currently reside in Hawaii’s only state veterans facility or how many cases of scabies there might be.
“Our leadership and Hilo Medical Center’s leadership are coordinating closely with the state Department of Health to address the situation,” the statement reads. “We are following all of the health department’s recommendations to ensure it is resolved as quickly as possible. Our residents, staff, and partners in health care have been informed. The health of our veterans and staff continues to be our utmost concern and primary focus.”
Kona Community Hospital suffered an outbreak last November. The hospital lifted visitation restrictions after 40 days of patient quarantine. Sources at the time said up to 50 staff members had been infected during that period.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, scabies is an infestation of the skin by the human itch mite. Microscopic scabies mites burrow into the upper layer of the skin where it lives and lays its eggs.
The most common symptoms of scabies are intense itching and a pimple-like skin rash, the CDC says.
According to the statement from Yukio Okutsu, efforts to resolve the situation include limiting visitors, temporarily closing the Adult Day Health, consulting with a DOH epidemiology specialist, and daily meetings with a CDC-affiliated prevention consultant and/or Avalon senior clinical leadership for ongoing support.
Hilo Medical Center spokeswoman Elena Cabatu said HMC treated one patient late last week, “and we have taken precautions to inform employees who cared for the patient about the signs and symptoms.”
The hospital’s protocol is for employees who find any signs or symptoms to go to the HMC Emergency Department and inform the hospital’s infection prevention director, she said, “but as of now, we do not have a patient or any employee infected.”
“We are confident that the state veterans home has taken the appropriate measures to treat and care for their patients, and we believe it’s quite unlikely that the scabies will be transmitted to our facility.”
In the event that residents from Yukio Okutsu need to be transported to HMC for care, whether an emergency or not, Cabatu said the facility will inform the hospital, which will “do our best to care for that patient, and protect our other patients and employees.”
DOH spokeswoman Janice Okubo said the veterans home requested assistance from the department’s Hawaii District Health office, and staff went to the facility Friday.
The DOH Disease Outbreak Control Division began providing guidance to the facility Monday, “however, DOCD cannot determine the scope at this time as limited information was shared,” Okubo said.
“Today, DOH provided advice to the center to help them think more critically about how cases are actually being determined,” she said.
According to Okubo, facilities are not required to report scabies to health authorities, but the DOH does provide information regarding scabies and assists with requests on infection control issues.
Scabies can spread rapidly under crowded conditions where close body and skin contact is frequent. Institutions such as nursing homes, extended-care facilities and prisons are often sites of scabies outbreaks, according to the CDC.
The first time a person gets scabies, symptoms can typically take four to eight weeks to develop and scabies can still spread during this time.
According to the CDC, severe itching, especially at night, is the earliest and most common symptom of scabies and a pimple-like itchy rash is also common.
Scabicides, which kill scabies mites, some of which also kill mite eggs, are available with a doctor’s prescription.