If your loved one is persistently itchy and in a care home or has recently been in hospital, please learn from my experience and consider scabies.
My dad has had itchy skin since August. He has seen his GP regularly and scabies was discounted early on because he apparently wasn’t showing classic signs. With things getting worse, I took him to a private dermatologist who diagnosed scabies and prescribed treatment cream. The care home was not willing to accept this diagnosis and was not prepared to treat other residents who may have been considered close contacts. I carried out Dads treatment myself.
Six weeks after treatment the dermatologist found that he had been reinfected. I contacted the GP and as well as ensuring my Dad received proper treatment, I asked him to consider close contacts. He discovered that another resident I had been concerned about frequently going into my dad’s room also had scabies. They were the likely source of reinfection. He has suffered for months and we are only now getting some action that might make a difference.
There is new government guidance on management of scabies in care homes that anyone concerned about this issue should familiarise themselves with. Scabies may present differently in people with dementia and they may even be asymptomatic but still infectious. My father has seen lots of health staff in recent months and not one of them has recognised scabies other than the dermatologist.
Lessons I have learned:
If scabies is discounted. get a second opinion.
If the care home minimises your concerns, keep going.
Your local Health Protection Agency will be able to advise you.
Don’t let the care home speak to the doctor in your behalf, speak to them yourself.
I don’t want anyone else to go through what my dad has been going through and hope this post will make a difference to someone somewhere.
My dad has had itchy skin since August. He has seen his GP regularly and scabies was discounted early on because he apparently wasn’t showing classic signs. With things getting worse, I took him to a private dermatologist who diagnosed scabies and prescribed treatment cream. The care home was not willing to accept this diagnosis and was not prepared to treat other residents who may have been considered close contacts. I carried out Dads treatment myself.
Six weeks after treatment the dermatologist found that he had been reinfected. I contacted the GP and as well as ensuring my Dad received proper treatment, I asked him to consider close contacts. He discovered that another resident I had been concerned about frequently going into my dad’s room also had scabies. They were the likely source of reinfection. He has suffered for months and we are only now getting some action that might make a difference.
There is new government guidance on management of scabies in care homes that anyone concerned about this issue should familiarise themselves with. Scabies may present differently in people with dementia and they may even be asymptomatic but still infectious. My father has seen lots of health staff in recent months and not one of them has recognised scabies other than the dermatologist.
Lessons I have learned:
If scabies is discounted. get a second opinion.
If the care home minimises your concerns, keep going.
Your local Health Protection Agency will be able to advise you.
Don’t let the care home speak to the doctor in your behalf, speak to them yourself.
I don’t want anyone else to go through what my dad has been going through and hope this post will make a difference to someone somewhere.
