Impetigo

My son recently came down with an odd looking rash which I first thought was just a carpet burn on his behind. But then it started to blister and spread to other areas of his body. I found out through internet searching that what he had was probably impetigo (im-puh-tie-go), which is a highly contagious skin bacteria that is itchy and unpleasant looking. I took him to a walk-in clinic and right away the doctor diagnosed the impetigo and gave him a prescription for antibiotics. My son is not allowed to go to school for 2 to 3 days because he is still contagious. Impetigo spreads by an infected child scratching their skin then touching another object like clothes, towels, toys, or another person. My son didn't have any other symptoms other than the rash and I hope he hasn't spread it to somone else.

Now I am trying to keep the rash away from my other children. We are practicing handwashing several times a day and I keep his towel away from the other children. He has also been taking a bath a couple of times a day to keep the sores clean and I wash his pyjamas everyday with hot water. He has to take his antibiotics every 4 hours until the medicine is gone. If the rash does not go away in 3 days then we have to go back to the doctor. We should also go back to the doctor if he develops a fever or if the sores become swollen and tender.