Scabies Outbreak Plagues Freshman Dorm
News in Brief
Issue date: 10/31/07 Section: KSG News
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An outbreak of scabies at a Harvard residence hall has caused commotion among students, who were instructed to take measures to stem the spread of the contagious skin disease, only to discover that the diagnosis may have been wrong.
On October 13, three students living on the same floor of Pennypacker Hall, a freshman dorm, were diagnosed with the disease, which appears as either a rash or small red bumps caused by mites that burrow under the skin and lay eggs. Scabies is spread through skin-to-skin contact or through clothes and bedding, though symptoms can take as long as six weeks to manifest.
As reported by The Crimson, University Health Services (UHS) initially instructed Pennypacker residents to wash all clothes, bedding, towels and shoes worn in the past week as a precaution. They were also told to place unwashable items in a plastic bag for 14 days to eliminate mites or their eggs. In addition, UHS supplied tubes of Permethrin insecticide cream, which individuals must apply to their entire body from the neck down, and leave on for 12 hours.
However, UHS informed Pennypacker residents last week that the scabies diagnosis might be incorrect and that the cause remains unknown. With no new cases reported, UHS said that the original source of the infection has been eradicated from the dorm. But the nature of life in residence halls could lead to another outbreak.
"The problem with scabies in a dorm is that you have to trust everyone to not only do the treatment, but to do it properly," said a KSG student who once was treated for the disease, but asked not to be identified for fear of stigmatization.
"The ideal is that everyone wash their sheets, bag up the unwashable stuff and treat themselves the same day as everybody else. Is that a realistic goal here? I wouldn't be surprised if the dorm has problems with re-infection."
On October 13, three students living on the same floor of Pennypacker Hall, a freshman dorm, were diagnosed with the disease, which appears as either a rash or small red bumps caused by mites that burrow under the skin and lay eggs. Scabies is spread through skin-to-skin contact or through clothes and bedding, though symptoms can take as long as six weeks to manifest.
As reported by The Crimson, University Health Services (UHS) initially instructed Pennypacker residents to wash all clothes, bedding, towels and shoes worn in the past week as a precaution. They were also told to place unwashable items in a plastic bag for 14 days to eliminate mites or their eggs. In addition, UHS supplied tubes of Permethrin insecticide cream, which individuals must apply to their entire body from the neck down, and leave on for 12 hours.
However, UHS informed Pennypacker residents last week that the scabies diagnosis might be incorrect and that the cause remains unknown. With no new cases reported, UHS said that the original source of the infection has been eradicated from the dorm. But the nature of life in residence halls could lead to another outbreak.
"The problem with scabies in a dorm is that you have to trust everyone to not only do the treatment, but to do it properly," said a KSG student who once was treated for the disease, but asked not to be identified for fear of stigmatization.
"The ideal is that everyone wash their sheets, bag up the unwashable stuff and treat themselves the same day as everybody else. Is that a realistic goal here? I wouldn't be surprised if the dorm has problems with re-infection."
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