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Six ill in second outbreak of scabies among office staff
By Suzanne McTaggart and Debbie Leigh
ANOTHER outbreak of scabies has reportedly hit a Leeds office, forcing six members of staff to take time off work.
News of the second outbreak, at the Direct Line office on The Headrow, comes just days after the YEP revealed that five workers at UKI Partnerships in the city had contracted the skin disease.
According to a female member of staff at Direct Line, who did not want to be named, the workers were told about the outbreak in an e-mail on Tuesday.
The e-mail stated that six people in the office were affected by the condition, which is caused by parasites burrowing under the skin.
It also asked staff to be vigilant and not to swap chairs, because the disease is contagious and can be spread through prolonged contact with infected furniture.
However, one worker told the YEP that staff felt they had not been given enough information about how the disease spread and how to prevent it.
She said: “What they should be doing is closing down for the day and fumigating the office.
“They are making all these millions but they don’t want to help their employees. We have got to be really careful.”
At the time of going to press, Direct Line was unable to formally comment, but said that the matter was under investigation.
As reported in the YEP on Monday, five workers at UKI Partnerships on Neville Street, Leeds, were diagnosed with scabies last week.
People are considered infectious from the time of infestation until the treatment, usually a double application of lotion, is successfully completed.
The disease is spread by direct, prolonged, skin-to-skin contact with a person already infested – a quick handshake or hug will not usually spread it.
It can also be spread through prolonged contact with infested linens, furniture, or clothing.
Symptoms usually occur within four to six weeks, but can begin within one to four days in someone who has been infected with scabies before.
The process begins when a female mite burrows beneath the skin and deposits eggs, which mature in 21 days and work their way to the skin’s surface. The itching is the body's allergic reaction to the mites, their eggs and their waste.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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