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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To want to have been told about ringworm

36 replies

bitpeevd · 27/05/2012 06:13

we mind a teenager on a regular basis for her carer, and i am a mother to an 8 month old baby. the teenager girl came to us this weekend; on arriving at her house to pick her up i was told she has ringworm (i saw a huge red ring on her leg) and given 2 towels for her to use, and cream for it. i didn't think much of it, went out for the day, and someone told me it was highly contagious; i then looked up info about it online and realised it can be passed on very easily. im a bit annoyed that i wasn't given more information, and that i wasn't given a choice in taking her this weekend. im worried that my 8 month old will catch it - she has been playing with her a lot, sitting on blankets etc. am i over reacting?

OP posts:
MyCarHasBrokenDownAgain · 27/05/2012 07:14

Not sure if this'll help or not, but I sometimes get one on my shoulder (why?!) - never been particularly OTT re towels, bedding, DS jumping on me etc (skank Grin): no one in the house has ever had one apart from me! If she does get one it's easily treatable with cream.

hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 27/05/2012 07:21

My DD had ringworm for weeks before it was diagnosed (it was in a very unusual place, I kept taking her back to the doctors who kept diagnosing eczema in my defence) and no-one caught it from her. I have also worked with children who have had a ringworm infection and have never known it be passed on.

Original poster
bitpeevd · 27/05/2012 07:42

ok thanks that has helped. tbh i knew nothing about it till i looked it up and then read how 'highly contagious' it was. if its nothing really to be concerned about, then thats ok. still it would have been nice to have been told what it was

OP posts:
Sallyingforth · 27/05/2012 13:07

I had ringworm which I was 10, and was horrified to think there was a worm crawling round in my skin! No-one thought to tell me it wasn't a worm at all, but a fungus. The cream got rid of it soon enough though.

WorraLiberty · 27/05/2012 13:15

When the kids get ringworm at my DS's school, the parents are told to put the cream on, cover it with a plaster or gauze and send them in.

Original poster
bitpeevd · 27/05/2012 13:27

hers isn't covered its on the back of her leg, shes wearing shorts and sitting on everything. i don't feel its my place to tell her to cover it as imnot her mother

OP posts:
Birdsgottafly · 27/05/2012 13:29

The actual patch has to be touched for it to be passed on, or a recently used towel/bedding, so it is easy to avoid in most circumstances.

However you should have been told, especially if your DD has to go to nursery, because they want an incubation period until the child returns.

The same with some workplaces.

WorraLiberty · 27/05/2012 13:29

Of course it's your place to ask her to cover it...why wouldn't you?

She probably has no idea it's as contagious as it is.

Just ask her...it's no big deal.

januaryjojo · 27/05/2012 13:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ratspeaker · 27/05/2012 13:38

Its not highly contagious_ I've had it and not one other person in the family got it.
Its not like impetigo ( which is bacterial ) more like athletes foot ( another fungal infection )> Would you get as annoyed about athletes foot?

FallenCaryatid · 27/05/2012 13:47

How is the teenager supposed to know what to do and how to deal with things like this if no one talks to her about it?
If you mind her on a regular basis, you are in loco parentis in my opinion.
Yes. you should have been better informed, but perhaps the carer doesn't know much either. I hope you and your baby stay clear of any infection, it is a yukky thing to have to deal with.

Birdsgottafly · 27/05/2012 13:48

It is considered highly contagious becase the virus lives off the body.

Young children don't have hand hygeine and it is difficult to get them to leave an itchy patch alone.

An adult getting it is very different to a child, but they will still scratch in their sleep and will be coating bathroom surfaces in the virus.

My work place has a seven day incubation period, as do some nurseries, so it is very inconvienient to catch. Where as Athletes foot can be easily contained.

Gunznroses · 27/05/2012 14:17

Just be careful of ring worm of the scalp! Not as easy to treat, treatment requires oral medication, topical cream may control it for a while, as soon as you stop it comes back again, it causes awful dandruff which as it sheds then infects everyone else.

Arm, leg etc is easy to treat but infecting the scalp is what i'd really be concerned about.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 27/05/2012 14:32

AFAIK ringworm is just athletes foot in a different place. Does that make it less worrying?

2rebecca · 27/05/2012 14:35

Agree it's no more "highly contagious" than athlete's foot. Agree re cream and exposing the area rather than covering it. You did the right thing re cream and towels. I wouldn't refuse to have a kid because of this. it's far less infectious than a cold or sore throat and less troublesome.

OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos · 27/05/2012 14:37

I'd ask her to cover it or I'd send her home. YANBU to think you should have been told, it was very selfish of her carer to send her to you without giving you a choice over whether you wanted to risk it. Whether its mildly contagious or highly contagious is a red herring. If its contagious at all you should have been told.

Joolyjoolyjoo · 27/05/2012 14:38

Ringworm isn't a virus, it's a fungal infection. You can't get it just from touching, it only gets in through broken skin, so if you had a scratch somewhere it can establish itself. It's very treatable. As a vet student I remember two guys in my class having it all over their faces, having caught it from cows! Probably got in through nicks from shaving.

Birdsgottafly · 27/05/2012 15:05

I ment infection, not virus.

You don't need to have broken skin. It's an annoying infection because it is difficult to not scratch in your sleep and it gets spread further.

Lizcat · 27/05/2012 15:23

As Jooly said also in 14 years of dealing with scabby ringworm calves I have never caught it as I wash my hands and then thoroughly dry them after handling. As well as the abrasion you need moisture for it to proliferate. Though my business partner did give it to his daughter when she was 3months old on her face, she's now a healthy adult so even if the worst happens it is not a disaster.

squeakytoy · 27/05/2012 15:31

it is ringworm, not rabies!

cornflowers · 27/05/2012 15:36

One of my dc's had a small patch of ringworm on her arm. It was treated fairly promptly and went away without anyone else ever becoming infected. I really wouldn't fret about this. The name 'ringworm' does sound vile though, it sounds much worse than it actually is.

ComradeJing · 27/05/2012 16:20

I used to get it on my arm. No one else every caught it from me but YANBU to have wanted to be told.

toffeefee · 27/05/2012 16:29

Have just posted on your other thread about this and YABU and a little bit precious! Ring worm is a mild complaint. My DD gets this. We never catch it off her. Canesten clears it up quickly and she never complains about it, we just see the ring, treat it, job done. It is pretty much the same as athelete's foot. Would you refuse to have her if she had this?

wheresthesunshine · 27/05/2012 16:47

Is it normal for RW to keep coming back? dd has a few patches of it, and they go away with cream, but come back.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 27/05/2012 16:55

I had it last year. No idea where I got it from, went to the doctor, was given cream - and it went away and hasn't been back.

The only side affects were a temporary red mark and my husband calling me 'ringworm' as a pet name until it went. Blush

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