Ringworm

Updated on April 13, 2008
T.C. asks from New York, NY
4 answers

Hello moms!

My 10 month old daughter has been going to a nursery since January. Of course those places overflow with germs. She has had a constant runny nose since she started. The real problem is that a few weeks ago she got ringworm. Because she does not have very much hair you can see the spots. When they called me and told me that she had it, I immediately left work and picked her up to take her to her pediatrician. She prescribed Lotrimin which did work. Now today they call and tell me that they see a spot and have asked me to get a prescription. When I mentioned this to her doctor, she said she was too young for that. My irritation is that all the other children have hair--lots of it. It is being made to sound like my daughter is the cause when I believe that she keeps getting this from one of the children--with hair! Has anyone else had this problem. Have you used a prescription on a child this young? If I don't have ringworm and my husband does not have it, where else would she contract it it the nursery is where she is all day???

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So What Happened?

Thanks to all of you. I actually tried organic tea tree oil which worked wonders! Thanks, again.

More Answers

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A.T.

answers from New York on

First of all, relax, do not panic and get your facts. Ringworm is a fungus, not a germ or bacteria. If you have a pet, they get ringworm as well, so if you have a pet and they came in contact with you and then you with the baby and so on. If it is in the daycare, your daughter will get it repeatedly if the day care is not thouroughly cleaned. You need to find out if any other children in the daycare do indeed have it. Or perhaps the daycare people themselves have it. Ask and check it out. You really are going to have to do your homework on this as you seem to think that they are blaming your daughter for the outbreak. Hair has nothing to do with ringworm, it is found on the skin. Just like it can occur on the scalp, it can occur on any part of the body. If there are other children who have it, it is going to continue back and forth as ringworm is very contagious. Actually, all kids in the day care you find who do have it, should be kept at home until the condition has cleared completely because they will only continue to pass it back and forth and contaminate everything they come in contact with. You have been doing the right thing thus far with the cream. The cream has to be placed at least one inch outside of the ringworm as well as on the ringworm and you must be diligent in doing this up to twice a day or whatever the dosage is. Ringworm can take up to 4 weeks to clear, depending on the severity. On the scalp, it can take up to 8 weeks. Also, you must remember to wash your hands each time you apply or come in contact with his ringworm or else you're just passing it back and forth. Everything must be washed in hot water. Ask your dr. for a shampoo as well as the cream and you are just going to have to wait it out. Patience is really required for ringworm and be mindful that it is very very contagious, so wash your hands, the babies hands etc. The cream, also has to be applied for 1 week after the ringworm is gone, if you do not follow these methods, the ringworm will return on its own as it was not given time enough to heal & disappear. If your daughter is the only one with it, you are going to need alot of patience because as I mentioned before it can take up to 4 wks to clear, 8 wks to clear on the scalp and alot of washing of the hands and her linens and such. As for meds, she is quite young and you may not want to choose that route, check with her ped. If your insticts are fully against meds, you will have to be diligent and patient and see the condition through with cream in the manner I described above. Good Luck T..

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A.M.

answers from New York on

T.

Most likely your child got it from the daycare. My son kept getting it right on his neck. He was three at time. The runny nose thing might just be the weather changing. Ringworm doesn't cause a runny nose its a fungus not a virus. I flipped out when my son got it too. But with anti fungal medication it goes away in about 3 to 5 days. Schools need to disinfect daily.

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P.M.

answers from New York on

Sorry to hear you're going through this. I don't know much about ringworms, but I have to tell you not all daycare centers are full of germs. Ofcourse, there will be runny noses since all those kids are together and mouth everything. Ringworm sounds a bit more serious to me, and I would seriously look into their cleaning policy. I know with our daycare, if anything (sickness/Virus) is found they disinfect the entire school right away. What is their policy with kids putting things in their mouth, do they take notice and disinfect the object right away? Do they professionally clean the facilities often, or is it just the teachers vacuming and such?

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B.A.

answers from New York on

T.,
If you look down at the recent posts, you will see another about treating ring worm. It may beon the next page back. There is a whole lot of advice on there.
Beth

04/02/08 K F Medications & Pharmacies
Recommendations for Ringworm 21

That is the title and date of the post. Maybe 4 pages back

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