Mother Talkers

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  • Dealing with a classmate who has scabies! (0 / 0)

    In April, one of the girls in DD's grade showed up to school with mayonnaise residue in her hair.  We wondered if they were trying a home remedy for lice, so we asked the teacher to send the girl to the school health clerk (no actual nurses here). The report back to us was they saw "something" but it was inconclusive.  Weeks pass, and the kid's hair is always wet in the morning.  On Wednesday the teacher asked, don't you have a blow drier, it's pretty chilly to have wet hair in the morning.  The girl replied, "The bugs were biting me so we washed my hair right before school!"

    Bugs.  Biting her.  Yikes!

    One of my friends had had enough of the speculation so she called the afflicted girl's dad.  The diagnosis is scabies  and she started treatment this past Tuesday.  That means she was at school with untreated scabies since mid April.

    Prior to my friend calling him, the dad was planning to keep this a secret so as not to "stigmatize" his little girl.  So it means that if some other child started itching, he was okay with them going weeks and weeks, wondering about some unexplained rash.  Knowledge is power, man, if scabies is goin' around, parents need to know so they can get their child medical treatment as soon as it starts!  This is not a virus, it's a parasite.  

    Anyone here ever have anything similar happen?  

    by MsMarvel on Fri May 09, 2008 at 09:22:19 AM PDT

    • Stigmatizing her? (0 / 0)

      What about the trauma of going to school itchy and uncomfortable with a parasite? She could have scratched sores on her head and skin, gotten an infection, spread the thing to others...grrrr!

      What is the treatment for scabies? Had he taken her to the doctor?

      When I was a preschool teacher I found out very quickly that certain parents would dose their kids with cold medecine and send them to school. Sure enough 3 hours later the kid's fever is spiking, nose is oozing green and they were coughing up mucous.

      One mother defended herself with, "Well, I had a HAIR appointment!" Ah, yes. Reason #101 why I no longer teach!

      by Suzanne77 on Fri May 09, 2008 at 10:06:51 AM PDT

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      • She went to the doctor (0 / 0)

        and got the medicated body cream on Tuesday of this week but the "Bugs biting my head" comment was on Wednesday morning.  The teacher sent her home that day and said they had to have a note from the doctor clearing her to come back to school, and she was there today.

        We don't think the school is going to send notes home - like they would do with lice.  They're protecting the family's privacy.  It's only because my friend called the girl's dad and asked for an explanation that we know anything.

        Perhaps it's not extremely contagious.  It just sounds really awful. And the fact that she came to school untreated for weeks is very sad for all involved.

        by MsMarvel on Fri May 09, 2008 at 12:08:17 PM PDT

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        • Skin contact, clothing, fabrics, or other items. (0 / 0)

          IIRC, it's relatively easy to spread. But the treatment kills it in a couple of hours - if she started treatment Tuesday, she ought to no longer have been infectious the next day. I'd certainly be on the lookout for it if she'd been at school with it so long without treatment.

          "You're never more alone than when you're alone in a crowd."

          by Expat Briton on Fri May 09, 2008 at 01:09:32 PM PDT

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          • Oh, also IIRC.. (0 / 0)

            ..the treatment itself can cause itching skin, it may have been that that the girl was complaining about. If it wasn't a bad infection (and bad ones are visible), with any luck it won't have gone far.

            "You're never more alone than when you're alone in a crowd."

            by Expat Briton on Fri May 09, 2008 at 01:11:25 PM PDT

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        • It's incredible that they waited (0 / 0)

          to see a doctor about it.  My sister had scabies from camp one time and it took maybe one treatment with a medicated solution to clear it up - they let the child suffer for weeks?   Ugh.  

          I childproofed my house but they got back in somehow.

          by lonestar canuck on Fri May 09, 2008 at 01:29:59 PM PDT

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