SCHENECTADY Scabies case found in public housing Officials say tenants must help stop infestations BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
It’s been a hard spring for some residents of Schonowee Village, a group of municipal housing authority apartments downtown. First came the cockroaches. Then scabies. Some residents were moved out of their apartments briefly so pest control workers could launch a war against cockroaches. Now they have to guard against scabies. Tenant Paul Kaczmarek was diagnosed Friday with scabies, a highly contagious infestation of mites that lay eggs on human skin. When they hatch, the mites cause intense itching. It can be quickly treated with antibiotics, but that didn’t make Kaczmarek feel any better. He immediately quarantined himself. “I don’t want to go inside any buildings. I don’t want to touch anybody,” he said. “First cockroaches and now this.” There’s no actual need for a quarantine — patients who take antibiotics, as Kaczmarek is, are no longer contagious. But those who have been exposed to scabies do not show symptoms for four to six weeks. During the incubation period, scabies tends to spread rapidly, particularly in places such as public housing where many people live close together. To the naked eye, scabies appears to be a rash. The Schenectady County Health Department said those who may have been exposed and have scabies symptoms should seek medical attention. A state Department of Health fact sheet emphasized that, as well, saying, “The need for early diagnosis and treatment of infested individuals and contacts is extremely important.” At the Schenectady Municipal Housing Authority, Executive Director Richard E. Homenick spent an hour researching scabies after getting word of the diagnosis Friday morning. “It’s very treatable,” he said with relief. That means this will be easier to deal with than the cockroaches, which are still a lingering problem. Bedbugs invade occasionally, too. “Our biggest challenge is getting the tenants who are problematic to comply with our professional pest control company’s recommendations,” he said. Some won’t report infestations for fear it makes them look bad. Authority newsletters now include a message in big letters urging tenants to call immediately if they see cockroaches or bedbugs. But they also have to let pest control agents into their apartments, empty their cupboards for treatment, wash and bag clothing and take various other time-consuming steps. Some tenants refuse, Homenick said. “Just last week I evicted a poor woman who had bedbugs and would do nothing,” he said. The agency is working with Cornell Cooperative Extension, which trained all of the staff on how to fight pests. Staff members then held a training session for tenants in which they explained that a pest control company can’t do it alone. “We want to fight this problem, and you are part of this fi ght,” Homenick said. With cockroaches, much depends on the tenants. While pest control companies can kill many cockroaches and drive the rest away, they’ll come back in search of crumbs and grease. Tenants are asked to keep their kitchens clean and their food in closed containers. But as Kaczmarek discovered, even that isn’t enough. He says he scrupulously cleaned his entire apartment, even taking off baseboards and cleaning above ceiling tiles. Still, a few cockroaches crawled in, apparently from other apartments or garbage chutes. In response to complaints from him and other residents, the authority is continuing to spray pesticides. ................................>>>>..............................>>>>.............................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00901&AppName=1
Logged
MobileTerminal
May 26, 2012, 5:21am
Guest User
Quoted Text
“Just last week I evicted a poor woman who had bedbugs and would do nothing,” he said.
Boy, somehow I get the impression he likes his job a little TOO much.
I commented on Ira's post and mentioned roaches then come here and see about the roaches.
It's a shame because you have some tenants that keep their apartments very clean and others who couldn't give a crap. So these pest companies are spraying pesticides everyday, wonder how this is affecting children and those with health problems?
Quoted Text
patients who take antibiotics, as Kaczmarek is, are no longer contagious.
first wonder if a doctor did a skin scraping to confirm it's scabies, hope he or she didn't rely on just lookiing at the rash. Second interesting saying those on antiobiotics no longer contagious, thats not true, if you have scabies you are contagious till mites are gone.
My mother in law after being at Glendale for a month contacted scabies there. Its a problem in nursing homes, not just public housing. when I worked at Hallmark I as many nurses aides and patients got scabies.
Of course, this IS the renaissance! For all the cheerleading, the cheerleader won't take any steps to move to downtown nor even any place else in Schenectady, not even to rent!
.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
Thank you Stratton/METROPLEX/GILLEN/McMayor/Savage/Judy Dago.........FINE JOB!!! NOT!!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Logged
