For Anjum Ghani it was a real worry. Her four-year-old daughter, Arissa, developed eczema at nine weeks old.

"My daughter's nails are always full of blood. How on earth was she going to cope at school?" said Anjum.

Showing signs of allergy and asthma during a family holiday in Wales, Arissa soon developed an angry, hot and raised rash on her cheeks which rapidly spread across the rest of her body.

"I just thought, "Oh my god – not eczema", says, 34-year-old Anjum, of Little Horton in Bradford.

"I'd seen other children with eczema in the past and always felt so sorry when I saw them scratching at their skin. And now here I was, with no history of it in the family and with my newborn daughter covered in itchy, weeping skin. I wondered how she, and I, were going
to cope."

Now on a range of mild to moderate topical steroid creams for different parts of her body, combined with essential medical moisturisers (emollients) for use directly on her skin and in the bath, Arissa's hands have been chosen to front the national awareness campaign.

"Not only is Arissa's eczema very bad but she also suffers with asthma, a nut and an egg allergy so we're constantly on edge, never knowing if her skin or her allergies will impact on where we are and what we're doing," Anjum explains.

"Starting school in September was a worry. She's done really well going part- time at the school nursery but full-time school is so different. Her sleep is still very disrupted because of her itching and scratching, and I always have to wake her up in the morning – and she won't be able to catch up on sleep in the afternoon when she's full-time. However understanding the teachers are, it's no replacement for the care and attention I can give her at home."

Recognising the stress caused to children with eczema and their parents when starting school, the National Eczema Society has produced a new
Schools Pack.

With the theme "Hold a Hand for eczema" this year's National Eczema Week (September 13 – 20 ) is using the Schools Pack to raise awareness of eczema as a physical and an emotional condition.

Affecting one in five children and one in 12 adults, a person with eczema cannot stop scratching and has to live every day with painful, cracked and often bleeding skin. Children with eczema are often made to feel different from others because of their appearance or because they can't take part in activities such as swimming and sports. Bullying can be a problem because a lack of understanding can cause children, parents and even teachers to wrongly believe the condition is contagious.

"We are keen to reach schools with our many messages about eczema from it not being contagious to it needing to be managed correctly throughout the day every day," explains National Eczema Society chief executive Margaret Cox. "If through the Schools' Pack we can help children to be comfortable in their skin at school, the benefits are felt not only by the child but by the whole family."

Jane Watts, dermatology nurse practitioner and chairman of the NES, has first-hand experience of families struggling with their child's eczema at school.

"Every day I see families coping with the many different challenges eczema brings, from sleeplessness to relationship tensions and of course, worries and fears about children starting school.

"This resource is worth its weight in gold for nurses like me who can offer something practical and genuinely helpful to parents, who in turn, need something tangible to give teachers to make eczema at school a more manageable condition while breaking down barriers in the classroom."

"The Schools Pack is perfect for a family like ours," says Anjum. "It's something I know I can take to Arissa's teacher which has everything in it she needs to know.

"The last thing I want is for Arissa to feel different. She copes so well, but it breaks my heart to see her nails full of blood as she tears at her skin. It's like she's in a trance when she scratches and there's nothing anyone can do to stop her.

"I really don't know if it will ever get better," she adds. "Some days it doesn't feel like it. We really do need all the help we can get to make this important transition for our lovely daughter as smooth, as complete and as painless as possible."

To order a free Schools Pack during National Eczema Week and to receive further information about eczema or to join the National Eczema Society call 0800 0891122 or visit www.eczema.org


Eczema facts and figures


Atopic eczema is the most common type of eczema affecting 15-20 per cent of UK school children.

It is thought to run in families, though it is not always passed directly from parent to child.

The term atopy refers to the atopic diseases, which include atopic eczema, asthma and hay fever. In atopy the body's immune system overreacts to things that would not normally do any harm, such as house dust mites, pollens, moulds certain foods and animal dander (skin, hair, fur, saliva).

Atopic eczema can begin in babies from about six weeks old and can continue throughout childhood. Three-quarters of children grow out of atopic eczema around puberty.

Usually it affects the creases of the body, such as the back of the knees and inside of the elbows, so is sometimes referred to as "flexural" but it can appear anywhere.

Eczema can look different in each child. Usually the skin is very itchy, dry and red, sometimes it is weepy and bleeding. Babies and children often rub their faces on bed sheets or clothing to relieve the itch.

Eczema is not contagious but it is prone to secondary infection by bacteria.