Integumentary system - Impetigo

Disease/Disorder: Impetigo

Common Name: Impetigo

Age of Onset: Can be onset at any age

Duration: After treatment of antibiotics has begun the infection will begin to clear up in about 3 days.

Commonness: There is not one gender that develops Impetigo more frequently than the other, but young children develop the infection far more often than older children or adults.

Cause: Impetigo is an infection caused by either staphylococcus bacteria or streptococcus bacteria. The bacteria often enters the body where the skin has been compromised due to poison ivy, insect bites, chickenpox, burns, cuts, or eczema.

Symptoms: Impetigo is manifest in red sores that can break open, ooze fluid, and develop a yellow-brown crust. While these sores can occur anywhere on the body, they most often appear around the mouth and nose. A way to identify sores as being infected with Impetigo is if they increase in number or size and itch.

Prognosis: The infections begins as an inflamed spot, usually around the nose or mouth, which develpos into a fluid filled blister. The blister will break and leak fluid that becomes a brown to red colored crust over that affected area. This sore will often grow out from the edges or spread to other body parts by the patient touching or scratching the sore.

Treatment: The treatment for Impetigo is to kill the bacteria with antibiotics. For mild cases the antibiotics will be topical creams aplied directly to the infection, but in more severe infections oral antibiotics are used. Within three to four days of begining to administor antibiotics, the infections should begin to clear and the area to heal. Infection site should be washed three times a day and then antibiotic cream should be applied topically.

Prevention: Since this infection is common in young children due to sharing toys and close contact with children who may be infected, it is important to keep their nails short and hands clean. Each person should use seperate towels, and linens should be washed in hot water to prevent spreading the infection between people.

Sources:
Medicine Net
Web MD