Parents should be in the stores looking for pencils, paper and notebooks, but those items may not be enough thanks to a silent predator.

News 4's Scottie Hunter is live in the newsroom. Scottie why is it not enough?

Well Ben, it's known as scabies and doctors say that now is the most common time to see it. Scabies is when a small bug burrows under the skin and makes itself at home.

It's passed primarily through hand to hand contact and appears as small rashes or lesions around the fingers. Here in the Wiregrass, there has been a slight increase in the number of instances in day cares and other childcare facilities.

So how do you plan to keep your kids safe from this outbreak? Join the conversation by leaving a comment below.

The little ones aren't the only ones who can get it. Once passed from one child to the next, scabies can sometimes travel home with the child and cause problems for the rest of us at home. It is treatable and doctor Michael Ramsey says it's a fairly simple process.

"You treat it with a cream that you put on from head to toe and leave it on over night and then wash it off the next day. That kills the bug but then the rash can last anywhere up to three weeks afterward."

Now Ben, Dr. Ramsey says scabies is an equal opportunity infester, so we all need to be a little more mindful when interacting with other people and objects. Ben, back to you.

Thanks Scottie. It takes about that long for the sking to heal and the rash to fade. The best advice as kids start back to school is for parents to stress the importance of washing hands and other germ-ridding practices.