Hospitalized for worsening impetigo
A 5-year-old girl (Dong Nai province) was brought to the Dermatology Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City by her family with many skin abrasions on her mouth, hands and feet, yellow fluid oozing, and the child was itchy, scratching and uncomfortable. The child's mother said that about a week before coming to the hospital, the child had blisters on her right hand, causing itching and discomfort. The blisters then burst and spread to other areas. The family bought oral and topical medications, used incense and applied fig sap to the child, but it was ineffective.
Another case is a 5-year-old patient (Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City) who came to the clinic with many skin abrasions in the mouth, hands and feet, yellow fluid oozing, the child was itchy, scratched and uncomfortable. Before that, the child's hands and feet had small blisters scattered around, the child often scratched. Therefore, the child's mother bought green tea leaves to bathe the child, but the condition did not improve, the blisters broke and spread to many areas of the mouth, stomach, back...
MSc. Dr. Dang Thi Hong Phuong - General Planning Department - Ho Chi Minh City Dermatology Hospital said that according to statistics, on average, the hospital receives about 8 children with impetigo every day. In which, there are many cases where the children have had the disease for many days, the sores spread to many areas of the body, itching and discomfort due to parents arbitrarily treating or treating incorrectly.
Impetigo is highly contagious and can be spread directly from infected skin to healthy skin and to other people through contact with fluid oozing from skin lesions or oozing fluid. In addition, the disease is often transmitted in schools and child care facilities due to crowded conditions and sharing of towels, bed linens, toys, or other items with infected people.
According to Dr. Tran Nguyen Anh Thu - Department of Dermatology - Dermatology, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, impetigo occurs at all ages. However, this is the most common skin infection in children between the ages of 2-5, accounting for about 10% of dermatological problems in children. The disease tends to occur in tropical areas with hot and humid climates.
Often confused with some other skin diseases
Dr. Hong Phuong said that the symptoms of impetigo are the appearance of blisters or vesicles on the skin, which gradually become cloudy, have pus and then burst, forming erosions, forming characteristic honey-yellow scabs, and quickly spreading to the surrounding skin. Common locations of impetigo are on the face, around the nasal cavity, mouth or hands and feet. The disease usually heals in 7-10 days if treated properly.
Impetigo is often confused with other skin diseases. If diagnosed early and treated properly, the patient will recover quickly and without scarring. If parents arbitrarily treat the disease with folk methods, it can make the disease worse and easily cause complications.
Therefore, when seeing children with impetigo, parents need to closely monitor the condition of the lesion. If it does not improve or tends to get worse, it is necessary to go to a medical facility with a dermatology specialist for timely advice and treatment. However, if left for a long time and treated incorrectly, the infection can become more severe and widespread, causing some complications such as staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome, cellulitis, sepsis, acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis, etc.
Doctor Anh Thu recommends maintaining good hygiene as the most effective method of disease prevention. Some notes during the care process include bandaging the wound or wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants to cover the wound, gently cleaning the wound with saline solution, not sharing personal items with the sick person, children with impetigo should stay home from school until the risk of infection is gone...
