Te Marae Ora (TMO) Ministry of Health has seen 106 patients who have had some skin infection from the beginning of the year until early April.

Health secretary Bob Williams says these skin infections are being classified as scabies, boils, rashes and the rest were given a general classification of skin/subcutaneous infection.

“Nothing constituting to be a community outbreak,” adds Williams.

Williams said these skin and viral infections are common at this time of the year given the changing weather conditions.

He added that public health advice is to maintain hand washing, use insect repellents as required, boil drinking water and wear masks as required.

Rarotonga Medical Centre’s Dr Nini Wynn says they have received cases of skin infection such as Impetigo (school sores) and boils affecting not only school children but toddlers and adults as well.

“We have received the above cases at different age groups,” Dr Wynn said.

She explained that the cause of the skin infections is a bacteria/s called Streptococcus pyogenes (strep) or Staphylococcus aureus (staph).

Dr Wynn advised that those with such infection must see a doctor for assessment and appropriate treatment and children should be kept away from school or day-care until a day after the start of treatment to avoid spread to other children.

She also recommended:

• A child should avoid swimming until all the sores have healed
• Sores should be completely covered with dressings, to avoid the spread.
• Practise personal hygiene (handwashing, keep fingernails short, avoid scratching)
• Children’s clothes, towels and bed linen must be washed separately from the rest of the family. Wash them in hot water and dry in the sunshine or a hot tumble dryer and wash toys in a mild disinfectant.