Second school to close doors after scabies case

As of Thursday, February 5, 2015

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

EDUCATION Director Lionel Sands confirmed that for the second time this week a school would start extermination efforts after a student tested positive for scabies.

Ministry of Education officials said yesterday that operations at T A Thompson would be suspended and students would be screened after administrators identified that a student at the school had the infection.

The T A Thompson student is a sibling of a student at D W Davis, who tested positive for scabies several days ago.

According to Mr Sands, in addition to that one confirmed case, there are several suspected cases at the school.

He said: “We identified that a sibling of one of the students from D W Davis, who attends T A Thompson, was also infected with the virus and determined that it would be best to close the school and have it checked and exterminated.”

On Saturday, Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) officials updated their union’s Facebook page with a message about the infection at D W Davis. They warned teachers to be on the look out for the infection and to immediately report it if they suspect a child has it. Reports surfaced on Monday that teachers at D W Davis staged a sit-in to protest the matter.

The Ministry of Education then publicly announced that all operations at the school were to be suspended until yesterday after five students of the junior high school had contracted the contagious skin infection.

The ministry added that officials have taken every precaution to prevent the spread of the infection.

Mr Sands indicated that D W Davis would be assessed from top to bottom, and all necessary tactics needed to solve the matter would have been executed.

He noted, however, that the infection was contracted outside of the school’s grounds, not within.

Scabies is caused by a tiny mite, which can cause intense itching, and is classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a water-related disease that may be transmitted from objects.

It is usually transmitted by direct skin-to-skin contact, with a higher risk with prolonged contact.