RINGWORM HERE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 125, 29 May 1942, Page 2

RINGWORM HERE

EPIDEMIC FORM INFECTION FROM ANIMALS An epidemic of ringworm in virulent form has made its appearance in Auckland. Parents of children affected report stubborn cases and they are experiencing great trouble in treating their children. Ringworm crops up in epidemic form every few years and this time it is said that the scourge is far more difficult to overcome than on former occasions. Most persistent efforts are needed to free children from the disease.

A medical man with large experience among children said to-day that the disease was infectious under the Health Act, but it was not notifiable. It was transferable from one person to another by means of towels for instance. It was spread by dogs, cats, and cows and calves, and he advised that persons touching these animals should always be careful to wash their hands thoroughly to prevent infection.

The disease was in reality a iunfus that attacked the skin or the lair, he said, the spores of the fungus being transferred from animals through the action of patting or handling. The hair ringworm was the most troublesome to deal with and it was often acquired by a child through placing on its head the hat of another, the spores attaching themselves to the headgear anil being easily transferred. Parents could not be too careful, he said, in advising their children not to play with dogs and cats, and if they did so to be careful to wash their hands afterwards.