Ringworm

(ring’-wurm). Or tinea tonsurans. A circular skin eruption; contagious, and very difficult to cure if occurring on the scalp. The hair should be shaved, and a cap of oil-silk or linen worn. The cap should be clean every day, or lined with clean paper, and burn the old one. The ointment ordered must be rubbed in daily after washing the places with soap and water, and the nurse must see that the child’s general health is maintained. Paint with iodine if no other treatment is ordered. The brushes and combs and hats used by the child at the time the disease was contracted must be burnt, and towels washed in disinfectants. A separate brush and comb and towel must be kept for the child, who should not be allowed to go to school. The most effective treatment is exposure of the affected patches to X-rays. This causes all the hair on the exposed region to fall out, and when it grows again in a few weeks’ time it is found to be free from ringworm. This disease is not caused by a worm, but by a microscopic fungus which attacks the hair in the hair follicles.