RINGWORM OF FEET IS COMMON AND VERY INFECTIOUS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 23, 20 February 1948, Page 6

RINGWORM OF FEET IS COMMON AND VERY INFECTIOUS

(By the Department of Health) Ringworm of the feet is a fairly common complaint. It is caught from the floors of dressing rooms, swimming baths, and any public place where bare feet may leave infection. In a private home there’s little worry of the spread of infection from one infected person, so long as slippers are worn and a special bath mat kept in the bathroom till cured. The main worry is an individual one—how to prevent re-infection of oneself, once there’s infection. Spores get into socks and into shoes. Socks used during the currency of the ringworm can be burnt after cure. If they happened to be mainly cotton and boilable, that would suffice. Shoes are more difficult, but they can be sterilised this way:— Clean shoes with soap and water, inside and outside. Dry as well as possible with a cloth. Put in each shoe a pad of cotton wool or lint, spread out to make an insole. Pour onto this insole 1 teaspoonful of formaldehyde solution purchased from a chemist. Put the. shoes in a cardboard shoe box, close the lid and wrap in paper. Allow the shoes to remain in the box for . six hours at least. Then take them out, take out the cotton or lint pad and air the shoes for 24 hours. Then rub in a leather dressing inside and out, to recondition the leather, allow to dry,.and finally polish the shoes for wear.

Having cured your foot of a ringworm, with Whitfield’s ointment for example, and sterilised shoes, you’ve now to keep yoxxr feet healthy and avoid recurrences. So keep the feet dry and clean, especially \ between toes. Dry these carefully. Air shoes and socks when not in use.