What About Ringworm?

According to the New York State Department of Health, Ringworm is a skin infection caused by a fungus that can affect the scalp, skin, fingers, toe nails or feet. Children and adults may be susceptible to different varieties of ringworm.

Direct skin-to-skin contact may be responsible for transmission, as in direct contact with items such as hair clippers, shower stalls or floors.

Ringworm of the scalp starts small, but becomes larger, usually leaving scaly patches of temporary baldness. Ringworm can affect the nails. Infected nails become thicker and brittle, or may become chalky and disintegrate. Ringworm of the body appears as flat, spreading, ring-shaped areas. Ringworm of the foot appears as a scaling or cracking of the skin, especially between the toes.

Doctors normally prescribe fungicidal materials to swallow, or powders that can be applied to affected areas.

Care must be taken to NOT SHARE towels, hats, or other clothing.

And lice? Who gets them?

Pediculosis (lice) is an infestation of the hairy parts of the body or clothing with the eggs, larvae or adults of lice. In the crawling stage, these insects feed on the blood of their hosts, which results in severe itching. Head lice are usually located on the scalp, crab lice in the pubic area, and body lice along the seams of clothing where they travel to the skin to feed.

Anyone can become infected with lice. Sharing of clothing, combs, or bedding may result in transmission of these insects. Symptoms first appear as itching or scratching at the back of the head or around the ears. However, it may take two to three weeks for the itching to become noticeable. The infestation may occur long before the itching is bothersome enough to seek treatment. For this reason, many directors choose to notify parents when there has been an outbreak at camp.

Medicated shampoos are usually recommended to kill the lice. Preventative treatments of non-infested persons is not warranted according to medical sources. Bedding and clothing should be washed in hot water (140º for 20 minutes). Clothes that cannot be washed should be dry cleaned. In addition, beds, floors, and other contact surfaces should be cleaned and vacuumed to remove all presence of lice, hairs, or other transmission agents. Lice survive only a few hours off a human host. Therefore, there is no need to treat cabins with insecticides when inhabitants have a louse infestation (according to the Delaware Cooperative Extension).

Originally published in the 1998 Winter issue of The CampLine.