What causes impetigo?

Impetigo is a relatively common skin inflammation, which is also quite harmful to patients. The main causes of this impetigo are Staphylococcus aureus and beta-hemolytic Streptococcus. It can be caused by external infection, or it may be caused by self-inoculation. When this disease occurs, timely treatment should be sought, skin cleaning should be done well, and scratching with hands is not allowed.

What causes impetigo?

1. Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus causes about 50%-70% of cases, followed by beta-hemolytic Streptococcus, and the two can also cause mixed infections. Higher temperatures, more sweating, and maceration of the skin are conducive to local bacterial reproduction. When patients have pruritic skin diseases, the itching can damage the skin barrier and facilitate bacterial colonization.

2. Transmission through contact or self-inoculation

The disease can be spread through close contact or autoinoculation. The bacteria mainly invade the epidermis, causing suppurative inflammation. Coagulase-positive phage group 2 type 71 Staphylococcus aureus can produce epidermal toxicity, causing toxemia and systemic generalized epidermolytic necrosis. In patients with low resistance, the bacteria can enter the blood and cause bacteremia or sepsis. In a few patients, it can induce nephritis or rheumatic fever.

Professional care

1. Trim the nails and inform the patient of the dangers of scratching. If the patient is young, ask his family to watch over him or her, or wrap the fingers with gauze to avoid scratching the skin. When the pustule is intact, calamine lotion can be applied externally as directed.

Take antihistamines orally as directed by your doctor. Wear loose cotton underwear to prevent friction from clothing. Clothing should not be too thick or too warm to avoid increasing skin temperature and aggravating the itching sensation.

2. Keep the area clean, protect the wound surface, avoid scratching and rubbing with a towel to prevent the spread. The patient's used clothes, bedding, and utensils should be cleaned and disinfected promptly (soaked in 1:20084 disinfectant for 1 hour), the dressings should be burned, and the living environment should be sprayed and disinfected with 0.5% peracetic acid.

They should be isolated from other patients to prevent contact infection. Instruct patients not to bathe in public bathrooms during their illness.

3. Assist doctors in treating wounds and preventing secondary infection. Encourage patients to drink plenty of water to accelerate the excretion of toxins.

Follow the doctor's instructions to do pus culture and drug sensitivity test, and choose antibiotics that are sensitive to bacteria. Observe changes in body temperature and measure it 3 times a day; if you have a fever, measure it 4-6 times a day. Follow the doctor's advice to draw blood for a white blood cell test.