24 people diagnosed with scabies after outbreak at daycare center

A Chicago daycare center is dealing with a serious outbreak of scabies.

Fourteen students and 10 teachers at the Paulo Freire Center have been diagnosed with the condition.

When the outbreak was first discovered on May 18, letters were sent home to parents to warn of the highly contagious issue, according to WGN.

Scabies occurs when mites burrow into the skin and lay eggs, causing itchy red bumps or a rash. It is usually spread by skin-to-skin contact and treated with medication that is applied from the neck down and left on for eight hours.

The school says that no students have shown symptoms since last Thursday, WGN reports.

"Anything like lice, chickenpox, scabies, when you're in a setting where there's a lot of children, lots of hands touching the same objects these types of things do occur," Sarah Frick, who is associated with the daycare, told WGN.

Officials reportedly vigorously cleaned everything, including playground equipment, and referred parents to doctors if they need it.

The Department of Health says it recommends that the daycare center stays open amid the outbreak because scabies is not a life-threatening disease.

Children with scabies can return to school 24 hours after receiving treatment.