Being a member of a sports team, it is common that you hear about skin conditions like Impetigo. The bacterial infectious disease is very common in contact sports such as football and wrestling. Because I have seen cases of Impetigo and know many people that have had it, I wanted to learn more about the different aspects of the disease. One of the people that I knew that had it was my cousin Chris, who I got to interview and gain some more insight from. Impetigo is a highly contagious bacterial infection that affects the skin. It is mostly common in children, but can affect people of all ages.
(Impetigo). There are two types of bacteria that cause Impetigo, which are streptococcus and staphylococcus. (Impetigo Causes) There are also three main types of the disease. The most common type in children is Impetigo Contagiosa, also known as nonbullous impetigo. This type is caused by streptococcus aureus, group A beta hemolytic streptococci or a combination of both. (Impetigo). It is very contagious and starts with red sores around the mouth and nose. When the sores burst, an itchy crusted rash forms. (Impetigo) Bullous Impetigo is more common in very young children and appears on the torso, arms, and legs.
The blisters are initially clear and then turn cloudy. (Impetigo Definition). It is called a “toxin-mediated erythrodema” in which the epidermal skin layer sheds off and is caused by streptococcus aureus (Impetigo). The most serious form is Ecythema, which also affects the second layer of skin. The blisters may turn into ulcers or open sores, which can be very painful. (Impetigo-healthline) This type of impetigo often occurs with lymphadenitis, the inflammation of the lymph nodes. (Impetigo). The disease is spread and contracted through human contact or when the sore of an infected person comes into contacts with items they have touched.
(Impetigo definition). The part of the body that is affected is the first layer of skin called the epidermis. The second layer of skin called the dermis is also affected in Ecythema Impetigo. (Impetigo Healthline) There are a few complications caused by Impetigo, such as the ulcers from Ecthyema scarring. Cellulitis is also a hazard because it affects underlying tissues and can spread into the lymph nodes and into the bloodstream. Some of the bacteria from the disease can also cause kidney problems. (Impetigo Healthline) To prevent the contraction of Impetigo, keeping the skin clean is very important.
When preventing the spread of the disease, keep the affected areas clean by washing with mild soap and covering with gauze (Impetigo Definition). When applying antibiotic ointment, wearing gloves and then washing hands is very important. An infected person also needs to wash their clothes and towels daily and not share them with anyone else. (Impetigo Definition). When my cousin had the disease, he ended up infecting his brother because he had not treated it properly at first. In children, it is important to keep them home from school/daycare until they are not contagious. (Impetigo Definition).
In curing Impetigo, the chief treatment is antibiotics that can be taken orally or applied in cream form. My cousin used the antibiotic cream called Mupirocin. If you use the cream, the affected area needs to be soaked in warm water or you need to use wet compresses to remove underlying scabs. (Impetigo Definition). The oral medications are mainly used for patients that have more widespread cases with more sores. The oral treatment also prevents the infection from coming back and makes the resistance of antibiotics less likely. (Impetigo Definition). Impetigo can be found in adults and in children.
The Nonbullous Impetigo is the type more common in children as well as adults. Bullous Impetigo is found most commonly in infants and preschool children (Impetigo Demographics). In children, both genders are equally commonly affected. However, in adults, men are more commonly affected. One of the reasons for this is is because of crowded living conditions and homeless shelters, which has a larger male population. (Impetigo Demographics). In a socioeconomic standpoint, it is very common that people with poor hygiene and overcrowded living can contract Impetigo. However it still contracted by people living in good conditions.
(Impetigo Demographics). Out of all skin problems/diseases in the United States, Impetigo accounts for 10% of cutaneous problems in pediatric clinics (Impetigo). The disease is classified as a Group A Streptococcal disease (GAS). In that group, there is also strep throat and necrotizing fasciitis(Center for Disease Control). In total, there are 9,000-11,500 invasive GAS disease cases a year in the United States. (Centers for Disease Control). However, Impetigo is one of the mild GAS diseases, along with strep throat. Those two diseases are not invasive but are more common, having several million cases a year.
(Centers for Disease Control). When I interviewed my cousin Chris about when he had the disease, I gained a new insight for how Impetigo affects the victim and the people around them. He explained to me how the disease was very irritating and it took a little while to clear up. It needs to be treated correctly or it can get worse and spread to other areas or even to other people. Chris had contracted Impetigo from someone on his football team, who had not treated his sores. After contracting the infection, Chris ended up spreading it to his brother.
The issue with this disease is that it is very contagious, and if one person gets it, everyone is at risk. This is a struggle in families, sports teams, and even in the workplace because contact is made between people every day. That is why taking care of the sores is very important so it does not spread. In new research, there have not been new preventatives of the disease, but researchers have found new treatments over the past few years. In 2007, the FDA approved of a new treatment for Impetigo. Altabax, a new topical treatment cream is a prescription medication meant to be used for adults and children older than 9 months. (New Ointment).
The new substance of Retapamulin in the cream has never been used in the United States before, but it has shown to be very safe in five studies. It has been meant to be used twice a day for 5 days. (New Ointment) Researchers at the Cochrane Skin Group have also tested the effectiveness of different treatment methods to determine which ones are better than others. Topical Mupirocin tested to be slightly more efficient than oral erythromycin in 10 studies with 581 participants. (Interventions). The cure rate was not significantly different in one or the other.
However, in 2 studies with 79 participants and 166 participants, erythromycin and cloxacillin were both superior to penicillin. (Interventions). The research I have done myself on the disease has taught me a lot about the effects it has on the victims infected. Even though I have seen cases of the disease, I never knew how fast Impetigo could spread. I also did not know that there were different types of Impetigo and that there were complications and issues that could occur with it. Before I researched the disease, I did not think that Impetigo was very serious at all.
However, after learning about the damage it can do, I have a better understanding on how it can absolutely ruin a person’s skin. Interview 1. What was your first exposure to this disease? – i first came in contact with this disease my sophomore year playing football in high school. I got it pretty bad it started on my face and as I touched it, it became more irritated and because it’s contagious it spread to more of my body. It went to my right arm and my right and left hands. It also spread a little to my leg. 2. What are some ways that having this disease changes the patients’ life? – it makes the patient irritated because you can’t touch or scratch it.
You’re so tempted to touch it and you can resist but you have to or it will spread all over your body and will spread to other people as well because it is contagious. 3. What are some ways this disease changes the lives of care givers to these patients? – the care givers in this situation need to be experienced in the field of this disease. They need to be familiar with the symptoms and need to know how to treat it and how to help heal it. If they don’t they will make it worse. The care giver and the patient both need to be patient in the healing process.
4. Are you aware of any new treatments or therapies to help patients recover from, manage with, or keep for getting this disease? – not any new ones except for medication, time, and doctor visits. 5. How do u feel you came down with this disease? – I think It got passed through my teammates to me because it was going around the locker room because it wasn’t treated properly by the kid that first kid that came down with it. This goes to show how it is contagious and how it is easily passed from person to person. 6. What did you do to treat it? – I went to the doctor about a week after I saw it for the first time on my face. I thought it would just go away but it didn’t.
Once it started spreading over my body I went to the doctor and he examined it and said it was impetigo. He prescribed me an ointment called Mupirocin. It is applied for a week and it is supposed to subside. It attacks the crusts on the skin and gets read of them over time. 7. How long did it take to clear up? – it took the disease 2 weeks to go away completely. I used the ointment until all the crusts were gone on my skin. I also had to go for checkups at the doctors office. 8. When you had the disease, did it spread to any friends or family members? – it spread a little to my younger brother. It spread to his arm and it took him about 2 weeks to get rid of it as well.He used the same ointment as me.
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Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis & Pictures. N. p. , n. d. Web.04 May 2014. <http://www. healthline. com/ >. “Impetigo. ” Definition. N. p. , n. d. Web. 04 May 2014. <http://www. mayoclinic. org/ >. “Impetigo Demographics. ” Clinical Key. Elsevier, n. d. Web. <https%3A%2F %2Fwww. clinicalkey. com%2Ftopics%2Fpediatrics%2Fimpetigo. html>. Interventions for the Skin Infection Impetigo. U. S. National Library of Medicine, 18 Dec. 0000. Web. 04 May 2014. <http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0011929/ “New Ointment to Treat Impetigo. ” FDA US Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n. d. Web. <http://www. fda. gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm048837. htm>.