Feb 26 2009
Impetigo
Yesterday I was in trauma stage, seeing Ian suffered (screamed, yelled, cried, kicked, wrestled) at the clinic. I did not ask much about Ian’s injury.
Today, I went to the clinic again – Isabel’s turn. She has caught a cold. I took the opportunity to ask the doctor again about Ian’s injury. So I learnt a new term – Impetigo.
Apparently this Impetigo is a common skin infection amongst kids 2-6 years old. The cause of it is bacteria Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pyogenes.
There are 3 types of Impetigo, and I believe what Ian got was the 3rd type – Ecthyma, the more serious type. The infection penetrates deep into the skin’s second layer. Ian’s wound fit into most of the described symptoms:
- Painful fluid and pus-filled deep ulcers
- Hard yellow crust covering the ulcers
- Very itchy
Doctor said it is contagious if come in skin contact, if other kids have open wounds or insect bites. It also spreads when the kid scratches. In Ian’s case, I believe he scratched the area because he complaint of itchiness.
Doctor also said that, some strains are even more ‘wild’, which could attack the internal organs like kidney. And some of the strains cause the rare and scary Flesh Eating Disease or “Necrotizing fasciitis”.
In Ian’s case, the treatment is easy – just need to clean thoroughly and apply antibacterial cream. This morning the red spots seem not spreading any more. He keeps complaining of itch. Pity boy…
Maybe you could give him some bendryl for the itching
I just found your blog on entrecard. I really enjoyed reading this post.
Yes, some form of oral anti-histamine may help to relieve the itchiness.To ask a kid NOT to ‘tahan’ is…IMPOSSIBLE :} Ian is really brave, I so ‘geli’ just looking at it. Bro in law said he had a similar wound and you have to clean the wound site thoroughly,something which most of us can’t do.Even if there’s a speck of contaminant left, the wound may become infected.
I’m glad your boy’s getting better.
I shrunk away in fear at seeing that gigantic monster rash.
My husband has allocated himself for all medical issues within the family, luckily.
Yikes! Hope Ian gets better soon.
Lucky Lady/ EMYYL: Thanks for the tips. I went to see the doc again and he prescribed some antihistamine. Hahaha! I have my both kids doped, and they slept so well last week! LOL!
Cascia: I’m glad you like it. Thanks for dropping by, and hope to see you more often.
Jenny: Good for you! Can stay away from this yucky stuff. :p
Jane: He gets well already. The wound has already dried up, so we no longer bandaged him now.
Thanks!