Administrator: Valley Hi 'back to normal' after scabies outbreak
The worst of a scabies outbreak at a Woodstock nursing home is over, its top administrator says.
The McHenry County-operated facility has revised its infection control policies, Valley Hi Administrator Tom Annarella said, and is now about two weeks away from being officially free of scabies, as prescribed by Illinois Department of Public Health standards.
"Things are back to normal at Valley Hi," Annarella told the McHenry County Board on Tuesday.
The outbreak, first reported June 30, resulted in several confirmed cases of Norwegian, or crusted, scabies, which is a highly contagious infestation of the skin caused by the human itch mite. Dozens of residents and several staff members were reported to have rashes that were not clinically diagnosed as scabies, though they were treated as such, Valley Hi staff members said.
A state report in July determined the nursing home failed to have an effective infection control program that could have identified the outbreak earlier and contained the spread of the disease.
Annarella admitted the facility's faults, saying staff members handled each resident's rash individually and were slow to identify a pattern. A lack of understanding and suspicion of the disease also contributed to the nursing home's delayed reaction, he said.
But once the outbreak was confirmed July 1, he said, it was under control in a month. There have been no active cases for residents or staff since July, he said, and the last resident was treated in August for precautionary reasons.
"We should be very proud of the efforts (staff) put in - the time, the dedication and the processes they followed," Annarella said. "We were very aggressive in our response."
In addition to submitting a corrective plan to the state, Valley Hi leaders have been working to implement preventive measures, revise their policies and improve communication. The nursing home received consultation from health care professionals, Annarella said, and two staff members are undergoing a training program to receive infection control certification.
Valley Hi officials also developed a comprehensive report for handling a scabies outbreak in the future. Annarella said other care facilities have already asked to use that report as a reference.
"We wanted to provide a road map to make it so comprehensive that 10 years from now, people can use it as a guideline for what to do," he said.