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Impetigo

A common illness in children that many parents may be unaware of is impetigo (often referred to as “infantigo”. This illness has many of the same symptoms of poison ivy, and can be caused by many different things. Below is information for parents about this common illness:

• Causes—
Impetigo is difficult to avoid since it can be caused by almost anything that creates an open wound. This can be as simple as a bug bite that your child scratches or a small cut on your child’s body. Bacteria get into the open wound and cause impetigo. Since impetigo is highly contagious, one cause is that your child can catch it from someone else who has it.

• Symptoms—
The symptoms of impetigo are very similar to that of poison ivy. Many times, impetigo in children will begin as small clear blisters (often many of them) that may look similar to ant bites. These blisters then pop and the fluid that is released then spreads and wherever it touches a rash will appear. The rash can have many different appearances, but usually looks red and honey colored, and possibly oozing. The blisters, as well as the rash, will itch severely, and if the infection gets too bad, can lead to swelling of infected areas. The rash will not only occur in places where blisters appeared, but can appear on many other parts of the body (this is due to the child scratching one part and then touching another part of their body, thereby transferring the rash).

• Treatment—
If the rash isn’t very bad the doctor will possibly just prescribe a topical antibiotic ointment (or have you use an over the counter medication). For more severe cases, oral antibiotics, as well as topical ointments, will be required. To prevent the rash from spreading, it is important to keep all infected areas clean with soapy water, medicated, and bandaged. This can help prevent your child from scratching these areas and spreading them.

• Contagiousness—
Impetigo is highly contagious until your child has been taking antibiotics for at least 24 hours. If possible, you should keep your child away from people as much as possible until this time. To avoid siblings and parents catching it, you should have the child sleep alone and change their sheets after every time they lay on them. Do not allow any sharing of towels, washrags, etc., and be sure to wash everything with antibacterial detergent or bleach if possible. You should also have your child wash their hands often during this time to help prevent not only transferring the illness to others, but also spreading it on their own body.

• Prevention—
It is a hard infection to prevent, but it can be done when proper precautions are taken. Any time your child has a cut or bug bite, you should immediately put medication and a bandage on it. This can protect it from bacteria and from your child scratching it, which leads to bacterial infection. Have your child wash their hands on a regular basis, as well. These preventative measures are especially true during seasons where your child will be outdoors on a regular basis because the opportunity for infection by bacteria increases dramatically during this time period.

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