Scabies Outbreak Affects Nearly 25 People At South Side Day Care Center

CHICAGO, IL — An outbreak of scabies has hit a South Side day care center, affecting nearly 24 people, WGN-TV News reports. At least 14 students and 10 teachers at Paulo Freire Center, 1653 W. 43rd St., have been diagnosed with the contagious skin condition, and the center says no new cases have been discovered since Thursday, June 1, the report added.

A letter from the Back of the Yards neighborhood school concerning the outbreak was sent home to parents May 18 after students had been discovered with scabies, the report stated. The school has been "vigorously cleaned" — especially surfaces and areas, like playground equipment — that comes into contact with a lot of the children's hands — since the diagnoses have been made, the report added. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for the South Side and Chicago — or other neighborhoods. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Scabies is a skin infection caused by an allergic reaction to bites from mites that burrow into the skin and lay eggs. Symptoms include severe itchiness and a rash of red, irritated bumps on the skin. Although it's highly contagious through skin-to-skin contact, scabies is not considered a life-threatening condition.

Treatment for scabies usually includes applying a topical medication from the neck down for eight to 14 hours on the person suffering from the condition. Closing of the day care center is not required the Chicago Department of Health told WGN, and in most cases, students and teachers who have been diagnosed can return to the center 24 hours after they've been treated.

More via WGN-TV News

A skin rash caused by scabies. (Photo by Cixia | Wikimedia Commons)

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