Impetigo

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Impetigo, bullous on the buttocks

Impetigo on a child's face

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Prevention

Impetigo

Treatment:

The goal is to cure the infection and relieve the symptoms.

A mild infection is typically treated with a prescription antibacterial cream such as mupirocin. Oral antibiotics such as erythromycin or dicloxacillin are also frequently prescribed, and result in rapid clearing of the lesions.

Wash the skin several times a day, preferably with an antibacterial soap, to remove crusts and drainage.

Prevent the spread of infection. Use a clean washcloth and towel each time. Do not share towels, clothing, razors, and so on with other family members. Wash the hands thoroughly after touching the skin lesions.

Expectations (prognosis):

The sores of impetigo heal slowly and seldom scar. The cure rate is extremely high, but they often come back in young children.

Complications:

The infection could spread to other parts of the body. This is common.
Children often have multiple patches of impetigo.
A systemic infection could lead to kidney failure (post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis). This is a rare occurrence.
Permanent skin damage and scarring may occur (also extremely rare).

Calling your health care provider:

Call for an appointment with your health care provider if symptoms indicating impetigo are present.

Review Date: 10/29/2004
Reviewed By: Jonathan Kantor, M.D., Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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