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Welsh hospital restricts visiting and closes wards amid scabies outbreak

Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli has restricted visitors and closed a number of wards because of scabies. Hywel Dda health board says it is treating patients, staff and contacts and deep cleaning wards.

2 outlets · 1L · 0C · 1R First reported Account updated
Image: Daily Mirror
Image: Daily Express

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The story, neutrally told

Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, has restricted visiting because of a scabies outbreak. Hywel Dda University Health Board said a number of cases are being managed in healthcare and community settings across its area, which includes Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire. Sharon Daniel, the board's executive director of nursing, said a number of wards are closed due to infection and that patients, staff and contacts are being treated while wards are deep cleaned.

She said scabies is highly contagious and difficult to eradicate. Some planned appointments may be disrupted, and the board will contact those affected; the minor injury unit is not affected. The NHS describes scabies as a skin condition caused by mites, spread by skin contact or shared bedding and clothing, and not usually seriously harmful.

The Mirror reports the board puts the risk to the wider public as low; the Express says the board did not say which wards are closed. In July a ward at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen was closed after a scabies outbreak.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on.

Left1 outlet

Framing
Straightforward report of the restrictions, leading with the ban on visitors and the health board's statement.
Emphasis
Reassurance that wider public risk is low and that scabies is treatable.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not say the health board declined to name the wards, or that the outbreak has run for months.
Charged language
“highly contagious Victorian disease”
For example
“Hospital bans visitors amid outbreak of highly contagious Victorian disease” — Daily Mirror
“The risk to the wider public remains "low", it added.” — Daily Mirror

Centre0 outlets

No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Right1 outlet

Framing
Leads with the outbreak's duration and the closure of wards, presenting scabies as a rare Victorian disease.
Emphasis
Months-long outbreak, unnamed wards and the health board's refusal to specify them.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not report the health board's statement that the risk to the wider public is low.
Charged language
“rare victorian disease”
For example
“UK hospital closes wards after outbreak of rare victorian disease” — Daily Express
“The health board has declined to specify which wards have been closed or whether certain wards have been disproportionately affected.” — Daily Express