Scabies outbreak at Sweetwater daycare

SWEETWATER, Texas — Parents are upset after finding out a Sweetwater daycare didn't notify them fast enough about an infestation.

“Right now, the issue is scabies,” Raquel Sharrock said.

Her daughter 4-year-old Alizae, who attends Southeast Early Childhood Center in Sweetwater has been exposed to scabies.

Shelia Ellison, the Epidemiology nurse at Sweetwater Health Department tells KTXS, she was notified of the infestation on Monday when there were only two confirmed cases. The number has increased.

“They have 7 confirmed cases, five children and two adult employees,” Ellison said.

“Scabies is a mite it’s a little bug and it crawls into the skin and grows there and breaths,” Dr. Norton, the Medical Director at Abilene Taylor County Health Department said.

Although Texas daycare's are not required by law to report scabies to their local health department according to Texas Department of State Health Services, Sharrock feels the school should have notified parents sooner and more efficiently.

“The children who have this were in the classes you know were confirmed, those parents should have received a phone call confirming that, ‘hey your child has been around this,” Sharrock said.

Sharrock tells KTXS some parents received letters notifying them of the infestation and some did not.

KTXS reached out to the daycare for a comment

“No, we do not,” Assistant Sweetwater ISD Superintendent, Melinda McCarty said. “We have communicated with the parents and that’s our statement.”

The school did however post a statement on Facebook stating, “the campus was treated with germ blast and follow up devices were left in the classroom.”

Sharrock believes more needs to be done.

“You can’t do a proper cleanse while children are running through the building hugging and still touching each other,” said Sharrock said.

For now, the school remains open.