The first cases were discovered last week. To prevent further spread, the affected departments are being kept separate from the rest. The inmates are allowed to stay in their rooms, says deputy institution manager Marcus Winberg.
We're doing this to get control over the spread of infection and be able to carry out the treatment. We take care of the textiles they have in their rooms, which they put in a bag that we seal. Then the mites die after a few days.
It's crowded in the country's institutions and since double occupancy is standard, all inmates in the affected departments must be treated.
It's a risk with all infections – the more inmates we have in each institution, the greater the risk of spread, says Marcus Winberg.
Currently, there is no answer to why the scabies spread so quickly, but Marcus Winberg doesn't think it's because the institution is too crowded.
We have a concentration of inmates in our institutions, but they don't sit skin to skin all the time.
Instead, one believes that the scabies mainly spread through textiles such as sofas and bedding.
We're replacing the bedding, but we'll also carry out sanitation of common areas. Then we'll review our routines, especially regarding laundry, so that we wash everything at 60 degrees.
Scabies is a skin parasite that makes tunnels in the outermost layer of the skin and lays its eggs there. The most common symptoms are itching, rashes, and in some cases, hair loss.
It requires skin contact for several minutes for scabies to be able to transfer from skin to skin.
Scabies can infect through, for example, holding someone's hand or sleeping in the same bed. It can also infect when sitting close together, skin to skin. Scabies can survive for up to two days outside the body, but they weaken fairly quickly, so it's unusual for infection to occur through clothes and towels.
Source: 1177
