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Factors that could increase your risk of contracting impetigo include: age, crowded conditions, warm/humid weather, certain sports and broken skin. Even though impetigo can affect any age group, children between the ages of 2 to 5 are more susceptible to contracting the disease.

Having open sores such as insect bites, rashes, or small cuts increases your risk of contracting this disease.

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It can be spread easily in schools where students are in close contact with each other, and in child care settings. Bacteria thrive in warm, moist environments, therefore making the summer a prime time to contract this disease.

Can be spread more rapidly by people who play close contact sports like football, and wrestling.

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Impetigo is a highly contagious and very common bacterial skin infection affecting more than 3 million people each year. This disease often affects young children, but anyone who comes in contact with someone who has impetigo can contract this disease. This disease can appear anywhere on the body, but is often seen on the face as red crusty sores around the nose and mouth areas.

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More common type of impetigo.

Caused by two types of bacteria, staphylococcus and streptococcus.

The first signs to appear will be small red lesions, that form into blisters and will eventually scab over with a yellow crusty scab.

Other symptoms are swollen glands near the sores.

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Caused by only staphylococcus bacteria.

This bacteria causes the epidermis and dermis to separate, forming a fragile fluid-filled blister that will often break, and eventually crust over.

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Typical antibiotics used to treat impetigo include Mupirocin, or Retapamulin.

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In some cases, if impetigo can not be cleared up with antibiotics they will administer a shot to help over come the disease.

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In some rare cases, if a person frequently contracts impetigo, their doctor may recommend for them to take a bleach bath to help reduce the amount of bacteria found on the skin.

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The most important thing you want to do is to avoid skin-to-skin contact with persons who are infected.

They need to have been treated with antibiotics for 24 to 48 hours, and their sores need to be crusted over.

Avoid sharing personal items with others, and wash all clothing, bedding, and towels that have been worn or used by someone who has been infected.

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If you have impetigo there are some key things to keep in mind to help you from spreading it to other parts of your body, and to others.

Keep your finger nails short to avoid re-opening sores, and spreading the disease more rapidly.

Constantly wash your hands with warm soapy water, and use a clean towel or disposable paper towel.

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When my mother was a young child, the chicken pox vaccination was not an option. When she was six years old she contracted chicken pox. She had a very severe case in which her entire body, from head to toe were covered with sores. As a result of these open sores, and being a very active child who played outside on the farm, her chicken pox led to a severe case of impetigo.

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When my sister was 3 years old she contracted impetigo while camping one summer. My mom noticed that she had some bug bites that my sister had been scratching at. The first thing my mother did was to clean the area and kept an eye on the bug bites. After a few days, my mother noticed that there were several blisters that were starting to form around the bug bites located in the groin area. Despite my mom’s attempt in treating these sores with an over the counter antibiotic ointment, the infection spread rapidly down my sister’s leg, and onto her abdominal area. My mother ended up taking her to outpatients, where the doctor administered a shot

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There was one member on the wrestling team who came to school with sores around his mouth and nose areas. He participated in his wrestling activities without treatment. This lead to an outbreak within the wrestling team, in which five other athletes contracted impetigo.