Impetigo Essay -- Diseases, Disorders

Introduction: Impetigo is a skin infection in the form of a cluster of blisters that usually occurs on the face, but can infect any area of the body. This skin infection can affect all age groups but is most common with toddlers who develop a rash and cannot or do not understand that they need to keep from rubbing or scratching the rash because it could irritate and make the rash bigger and cause other skin or health problems to occur, e.g. impetigo. It is considered as a common skin infection and the most common in America. Ways to prevent and break the chain of infection is to practice regular hand hygiene and sterilize materials and objects that had contact with the infected area. Etiology: This bacterial infection is usually caused by the bacteria staphylococcal (staph) or streptococcal (strep) and methicillin-resistant staph aureus (MRSA) is now becoming a common cause of this skin infection (PubMed Health, 2010). Staphylococcal is a derived from the Greek words staphyle and kokkos, meaning a bunch of grapes and berries because that is how one version of the infection appears, e.g. skin infection (impetigo), in a cluster of boils and the visualization is of grapes under a microscope (Stoppler, 2012). A strain of the staph bacteria, MRSA, is resistant to most antibiotics, making it difficult to treat (Levine, 2010). There are several strains of strep infections; however streptococcal pyogenes is the strain of strep that causes impetigo. Strep takes on the form of a chain of bacteria or linked beads under the microscope (Fox, 2010). These bacteria all seep into the open wound and manifest. Staph can usually live on the skin and can easily invade wounds and grow. This is a way that MRSA infects the body; because ... ...ions. In KidsHealth from Nemours. Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/skin/impetigo.html. Fox, A. (2010). Bacteriology - Chapter twelve streptococci. In Microbiology and Immunology On-line. Retrieved from http://pathmicro.med.sc.edu/fox/streptococci.htm. Impetigo. (2005). In H. Marcovitch (Ed.), Black’s Medical Dictionary (pp. 356-357, 41st edition). Lanham: Scarecrow Press, Inc. Levine, N. (2010). Understanding mrsa infection -- The basics. In WebMD. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/understanding-mrsa- methicillin-resistant-staphylococcus-aureus. PubMed Health. (2010). Impetigo. In PubMed Health. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001863/. Stoppler, M.C. (2012). Staph infection. In MedicineNet.com. Retrieved from http://www.medicinenet.com/staph_infection/article.htm. Impetigo Essay -- Diseases, Disorders Introduction: Impetigo is a skin infection in the form of a cluster of blisters that usually occurs on the face, but can infect any area of the body. This skin infection can affect all age groups but is most common with toddlers who develop a rash and cannot or do not understand that they need to keep from rubbing or scratching the rash because it could irritate and make the rash bigger and cause other skin or health problems to occur, e.g. impetigo. It is considered as a common skin infection and the most common in America. Ways to prevent and break the chain of infection is to practice regular hand hygiene and sterilize materials and objects that had contact with the infected area. Etiology: This bacterial infection is usually caused by the bacteria staphylococcal (staph) or streptococcal (strep) and methicillin-resistant staph aureus (MRSA) is now becoming a common cause of this skin infection (PubMed Health, 2010). Staphylococcal is a derived from the Greek words staphyle and kokkos, meaning a bunch of grapes and berries because that is how one version of the infection appears, e.g. skin infection (impetigo), in a cluster of boils and the visualization is of grapes under a microscope (Stoppler, 2012). A strain of the staph bacteria, MRSA, is resistant to most antibiotics, making it difficult to treat (Levine, 2010). There are several strains of strep infections; however streptococcal pyogenes is the strain of strep that causes impetigo. Strep takes on the form of a chain of bacteria or linked beads under the microscope (Fox, 2010). These bacteria all seep into the open wound and manifest. Staph can usually live on the skin and can easily invade wounds and grow. This is a way that MRSA infects the body; because ... ...ions. In KidsHealth from Nemours. Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/skin/impetigo.html. Fox, A. (2010). Bacteriology - Chapter twelve streptococci. In Microbiology and Immunology On-line. Retrieved from http://pathmicro.med.sc.edu/fox/streptococci.htm. Impetigo. (2005). In H. Marcovitch (Ed.), Black’s Medical Dictionary (pp. 356-357, 41st edition). Lanham: Scarecrow Press, Inc. Levine, N. (2010). Understanding mrsa infection -- The basics. In WebMD. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/understanding-mrsa- methicillin-resistant-staphylococcus-aureus. PubMed Health. (2010). Impetigo. In PubMed Health. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001863/. Stoppler, M.C. (2012). Staph infection. In MedicineNet.com. Retrieved from http://www.medicinenet.com/staph_infection/article.htm.