Infectious Disease Ward: Ringworm
By Kendall Haney
Jr. Infectious Disease Correspondent
Attention, All Future Doctors…
…Welcome to the Infectious Disease Ward!
Greetings everyone and K12 IA future doctors from around the world. In the spirit of science, I am pleased to unveil my latest (and first?) series of science articles for your amusement, fascination, and dissection. Or, is that digestion? Nevermind. I give you…ew…no wait, I don’t have it to give. I present to you…RINGWORM! Read below to find out how to catch it, how to NOT catch it, how to diagnose it if you see it, and what to do about it if you didn’t see it coming.
Disease: Ringworm
Background info: It is actually not a worm, it’s a fungus. It’s a nasty germ that is common mostly in children, but can happen to anyone. According to the ever helpful WebMD, “this superficial skin infection, also known as tinea, is caused by fungi called dermatophytes.”
Symptoms and Diagnosis: It’s not a pretty infection, but it is easy to identify. On the skin, the outside is red, and the center is more normal colored, giving it a ring-like shape. Most of the time, the skin is itchy, and raised. Sometimes the skin will turn scaly, but that’s unlikely. Many times, symptoms will revolve around where it is you have the infection. For example, if you have ringworm in your scalp, hair loss is likely.
Ringworm is contagious. You can contract it just by coming in contact with someone who also has it if you touch their skin. Another way to get it is by using an object other sick people have used, like clothing or hair brushes. Pets are great for spreading ringworm, particularly cats. Finally, you can also get it from wet places such as the areas around a pool, or from shower rooms. The Internet would like you to believe that ringworm is not super infectious, but that’s also what they say about Ebola.
Ringworm is usually easy to diagnose. But just like I’ve said above, it’s not always ringworm, even when we think it is. According to MedicineNet, “often, the diagnosis of ringworm is obvious from its location and appearance. Otherwise, skin scrapings for microscopic examination and a culture of the affected skin can establish the diagnosis of ringworm. If the diagnosis is unclear, a potassium hydroxide (KOH) preparation of a skin scraping can be reviewed under the microscope to confirm the diagnosis of a fungus. If a fungus infection is present and the skin problem is misdiagnosed, inappropriate treatment might be prescribed that could actually worsen the infection.” Get your diagnosis right, or you will probably suffer. The best way to make sure you get proper treatment is to see a doctor.
Treatment: There are no home remedies for ringworm. The only ways (that I know of) to get rid of it are with things such as antifungal cream. However, sometimes the cream doesn’t work. Antifungal cream doesn’t work in places like the nails. Sometimes it can even worsen the infection. If this is your problem, or you have a particularly severe case of ringworm, there is oral medication that can be taken. Hopefully the infection will be gone after two weeks.
Complications: Sadly, ringworm has the characteristics of plenty of other skin infections, like itching, possible blistering and oozing, red, irritated skin, and so forth. And so it’s not that hard to believe that sometimes other infections are mistaken for being it. Things like Candida, or Pityriasis Rosea are commonly mistaken for ringworm.
Tune in next month for: SCABIES! Together, we can explore scabies as a potential bad news day, and their differential diagnosis of mosquito bites, bed bugs, and more.
Sources:
"Ringworm Causes, Transmission, Picture, and More." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.
"Ringworm: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.
"Ringworm Symptoms, Causes, Treatment - Is Ringworm Contagious? - MedicineNet." MedicineNet. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.
"Ringworm Symptoms, Causes, Treatment - How Is Ringworm Diagnosed? - MedicineNet." MedicineNet. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.