Kids and Contagious Skin Rashes: What Can They Catch
Kids can scare you when they come home from school and tell you that the kid sitting next to them had this ugly rash all over their arm and was scratching all during class. Your mind can also just envision what happens when you child shares pencils, plays during recess and crowds with other kids around the teacher.
Not every rash is contagious fortunately. Allergic rashes aren't. Eczema is not contagious. However, there are other ones that can be communicated easily between kids. Some of these include chicken pox, measles, scabies, impetigo and roseola.
Measles ia very contagious and shows red marks on the face, a body rash, fever and possible infections of the ear. Even if your child doesn't show symptoms within a few days, it doesn't mean he is in the clear. He may show symptoms a week or ten days later. It can be spread by the air through coughing as well as via touch. Kids are advised to stay home during the illness and to not be near others. Fevers can get very high and vaccination is important.
Another rash that is common is called impetigo. This is often spread around camps as well as at schools. There is a bacterial problem that infects the skin. Some people will have it on their face and others can have it on the arms and other parts of the body. Kids like to peel them, but there can be pus and this may make the rash spread around one's own body. For mild cases an antibiotic cream can work, but for other cases, an oral antibiotic is necessary. When my nephew caught impetigo at his bunk at camp he was given initially a cream antibiotic but it didn't do the trick. They prescribed an oral antibiotic to clear it up. It's important to teach kids to use hand sanitizers and many do better with a hand spray or gel rather than running to a sink.
Roseola is another rash kids get and it can take 2 weeks to appear. Scabies is a rash that can take four weeks to appear so it's important to be aware that it can take a while for certain rashes to be detected. When a child gets roseola they'll get a fever and the marks on the body can be either flat or have texture to them. Fortunately, most kids with this rash aren't itchy. Try to keep the fever down with over the counter medications. Due to the contagious nature, it's important to keep your child in isolation from other kids during the symptoms phase.
Rashes are complicated and can indicate a viral infection, bacterial infection, fungal issue, insect origin or be due to allergies.
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