When is impetigo not contagious anymore

Kids should wash their hands well and often and take baths or showers regularly. Pay special attention to skin injuries cuts, scrapes, bug bites, etc.

Keep these areas clean and covered. Anyone in your family with impetigo should keep their fingernails cut short and the impetigo sores covered with gauze and tape. To prevent impetigo from spreading among family members, make sure everyone uses their own clothing, sheets, razors, soaps, and towels. Separate the bed linens, towels, and clothing of anyone with impetigo, and wash them in hot water. Keep the surfaces of your kitchen and household clean.

If the area around the rash becomes red, warm, or tender to the touch, call the doctor right away. The good news is that ringworm is easy to treat. Mild rashes from poison ivy, oak, and sumac plants can be treated at home. But severe and widespread rashes require medical treatment. Did you know that the most important thing you can do to keep from getting sick is to wash your hands? Cellulitis is an infection of the skin and underlying tissues that can affect any area of the body.

It begins in an area of broken skin, like a cut or scratch. Eczema can be an itchy nuisance and cause scratching that makes the problem worse. Impetigo is a strange-sounding word that might be new to you. Read this article to learn more about it. Impetigo is a skin infection caused by fairly common bacteria. Read this article to learn how to recognize it and what to do about it. People can get abscesses on the skin, under the skin, in a tooth, or even inside the body.

Most abscesses are caused by infection, so it can help to know what to do. Find out in this article for teens. The good news is that there are some simple ways to protect yourself from being infected.

Find out how. Our skin protects the network of tissues, muscles, bones, nerves, blood vessels, and everything else inside our bodies. While there is no vaccine to prevent impetigo, there are things people can do to protect themselves and others.

Keep sores caused by impetigo covered in order to help prevent spreading group A strep to others. If you have scabies, treating that infection will also help prevent impetigo. Appropriate personal hygiene and frequent body and hair washing with soap and clean, running water is important to help prevent impetigo. The best way to keep from getting or spreading group A strep is to wash your hands often. This is especially important after coughing or sneezing. To prevent group A strep infections, you should:.

You should wash the clothes, linens, and towels of anyone who has impetigo every day. These items should not be shared with anyone else. After they have been washed, these items are safe for others to use. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. Section Navigation.

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Impetigo: All You Need to Know. Minus Related Pages. On This Page. Doctors Diagnose Impetigo by How It Looks Doctors typically diagnose impetigo by looking at the sores physical examination.

Antibiotics Treat Impetigo Impetigo is treated with antibiotics that are either rubbed onto the sores topical antibiotics or taken by mouth oral antibiotics. Serious Complications Are Very Rare Very rarely, kidney problems post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis can be a complication of impetigo. Protect Yourself and Others People can get impetigo more than once. This usually needs to be applied three or four times a day for seven days. Before applying the cream, wash any affected areas of skin with warm, soapy water and try to clean off any crusts that have developed.

To reduce the risk of spreading the infection, it's also important that you wash your hands immediately after applying the cream or, if available, wear latex gloves while applying the cream.

If symptoms haven't improved after seven days of starting treatment, ask your pharmacist about other possible treatment options. Antibiotic tablets may be prescribed if the infection is more severe and widespread, or if the symptoms don't improve after using antibiotic cream. These usually need to be taken two to four times a day for seven days. If a course of oral antibiotics is prescribed for you or your child, it's very important that the course is finished even if the symptoms clear up before you've taken all the tablets.

Speak to your pharmacist if your symptoms haven't improved after seven days of treatment with antibiotic tablets. Further tests are usually only required in cases where the infection is severe or widespread, doesn't respond to treatment, or keeps recurring. In these circumstances, your GP may refer you to a dermatologist skin specialist for further tests or they may take a swab of the affected skin themselves for testing. This can help to rule out or confirm other skin conditions that may be responsible for your symptoms and can detect whether you carry one of the types of bacteria responsible for the infection inside your nose.

If your doctor thinks you may keep getting impetigo because you naturally have these bacteria inside your nose, they may prescribe you an antiseptic nasal cream to try to clear the bacteria. Cellulitis occurs when the infection spreads to a deeper layer of skin. It can cause symptoms of red, inflamed skin with fever and pain. It can usually be treated with antibiotics, and painkillers can be used to relieve pain. Guttate psoriasis is a non-infectious skin condition that can develop in children and teenagers after a bacterial infection.

It is usually more common after a throat infection, but some cases have been linked to impetigo. Guttate psoriasis causes small, red, droplet-shaped, scaly patches on the chest, arms, legs and scalp. Creams can be used to control the symptoms and in some cases the condition will disappear completely after a few weeks.

Scarlet fever is a rare bacterial infection that causes a fine, pink rash across the body. Associated symptoms of infection, such as nausea, pain and vomiting, are also common. The condition is usually treated with antibiotics.

Scarlet fever is not usually serious but it is contagious. Therefore, it's important to isolate an infected child and avoid close physical contact. Keep your child away from school and other people until they have been taking antibiotics for at least 24 hours. Septicaemia a type of sepsis is a bacterial infection of the blood. It can cause:. Septicaemia is a life-threatening condition and requires immediate treatment with antibiotics in hospital.

In rare cases, impetigo may lead to some scarring. However, this is more often the result of someone scratching at blisters, crusts or sores. The blisters and crusts themselves should not leave a scar if left to heal. The red mark left after the crusts and blisters clear up should also disappear by itself.

Staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome SSSS is a serious skin condition in which one of the causes of impetigo — Staphylococcus bacteria — releases a toxin poison that damages the skin. SSSS usually requires immediate treatment in hospital with antibiotics given directly into a vein intravenously.

Post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis is an infection of the small blood vessels in the kidneys. It's a very rare complication of impetigo. People with post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis will usually require immediate hospital treatment so their blood pressure can be carefully monitored and controlled.

Post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis can be fatal in adults, although deaths in children are rare. As impetigo is a highly contagious condition, it is important to take precautions to reduce the risk of the infection spreading. The advice below can help to prevent the spread of the infection to other people or to other areas of the body:. If you think that the infection has spread to someone else, make sure they contact their pharmacist as soon as possible. To reduce the risk of impetigo returning, make sure any cuts, scratches or bites are kept clean, and ensure any condition that causes broken skin, such as eczema, is treated promptly.

If you develop impetigo frequently, your doctor may suggest taking a swab from around your nose to see if you carry staphylococcal bacteria inside your nose. These bacteria can live in the noses of some people without causing problems, although they can lead to impetigo if they infected broken skin nearby. If you are found to carry these bacteria, you may be prescribed an antiseptic nasal cream to apply several times a day for five to 10 days in an attempt to clear the bacteria and reduce the chances of impetigo recurring.

Home Illnesses and conditions Infections and poisoning Impetigo. Impetigo See all parts of this guide Hide guide parts 1. About impetigo 2. Symptoms of impetigo 3. Causes of impetigo 4. Treating impetigo 5. Complications of impetigo 6. Preventing impetigo. About impetigo Impetigo is a common and highly contagious skin infection that causes sores and blisters. This topic covers: Symptoms When to seek medical advice Causes Treatment Preventing the spread of impetigo Preventing recurrent impetigo Complications Symptoms of impetigo There are two types of impetigo: non-bullous impetigo — the most common type bullous impetigo The symptoms of both types are described below.

Non-bullous impetigo The symptoms of non-bullous impetigo begin with the appearance of red sores — usually around the nose and mouth but other areas of the face and the limbs can also be affected.