How to Prevent Spreading a Rash
There are certain rashes that are contagious and it’s useful to know how they can be spread to another person. Also, some rashes can even be spread on your own body as well to a different section. With school season beginning, this is important to teach your children so that they can avoid catching something from another child.
First of all, many rashes are not contagious. For instance, rashes due to food allergies, contact dermatitis with a chemical, eczema and insect bites are generally not contagious. However, other rashes can be spread to another person. For instance, scabies rash is highly contagious and can be caught by sharing clothing, skin contact and sleeping in the bed of someone infected. Poison ivy is spread by an oil from the plant and if the clothing that touched the oil, contacts another person, the person can break out in the rash. Fungal rashes like athletes foot fungus can be spread in a locker room. Finally, chicken pox and measles can be caught from another person and these are generally part of a vaccination schedule for children.
The origin of rashes can be bacterial, fungal, allergies to medications or food intolerances, viruses and insect bites and other sources. Measles and small pox can be picked up just by someone sneezing which is why this is started at an early age for children.
The physician will instruct you on the timetable for returning to work or school. For instance, with scabies rash, after applying the prescription pesticide, you can return 24 hours later. For other rashes, the instruction may be to stay at home longer and clear out the bacterial infection or virus so you are no longer contagious. Wound coverings may also be used in certain contexts to avoid others catching the infection or rash source.
Kids are curious and you should instruct your child to not touch someone’s blister or rash . Remember that one kid may say to another, “Hey look at this gross red bump on my arm.” The next thing you know, the other kid has his hand on a blister that is oozing! The fluid contained may then spread to his own body. Show and tell should not include contagious rashes. Also, one can move a rash from one part of the body to another in certain situations. This is true for fungal rashes and cold sore (or fever blister rashes). Also avoid scratching your own rash because this can spread it further and relocate it. For scabies, this can move the mites from one part of the body to another. Scratching is hard to resist and that is why antihistamines are often used to help with treatment. If the itching is minimized, the scratching will needed less.
Remember to use a hand sanitizer often and teach your kids to do this at school, both for dealing with potential rash issues as well as respiratory infections.
My daugher had a hives rash and I know she showed it off to kids at school. I think she wanted sympathy for having such a red itchy skin problem
My father is at an assisted living home and each week I hear from a nurse that confides in me that they have to use elimite for scabies on a few patients. These people probably all keep catching it from each other because they sit together closely in dining hall and the game room for bingo and cards. She said they are constantly using clorox and cleaning rugs and floors but people still give scabies infestations to each other. The pictures of scabies on the internet show that those norwegian scabies plague the elderly and they are very persistent. Fortunately my dad has his own room and I tell him to not have any touch- even a hand shake.
Kids are always contacting each other and get so physical during recess. It’s easy to see how fungal rashes, bacterial rashes and contagious skin diseases get passed to each other.