How To Know If Infentigo Sores Always Ooze, Occur In The Eyes, What They Look Like, And If A Child Could Return To A Daycare Facility With Open Sores? Thank You For Your Time!

I run a daycare and I have seen my share of infentigo (impetigo).  It looks more like sores than a rash. It almost always starts on the face(around the nose and mouth mostly) and then can spread everywhere if the child scratches it and then touches other parts of their body. It is a bacterial infection of the skin and usually starts when the child's immune system is run down by a cold or flu.  It is highly contagious! Children should not go back to daycare or school until the sores have closed scabs that are close to being healed! If a scab is broken open, then it is contagious again. The best thing to do is put gaze or bandage over the scabs, so the child can't break it back open.

Impetigo is highly contagious and spreads easily from child to child in daycare, school and even playgrounds. It starts as a single or couple of sores, it itches constantly which makes them scratch it and infect other parts of the body. Most ot the time it starts around the nose and mouth, but another common area is the diaper area. It then has an oozing stage. Twenty years ago I used to burst the "ripe" sore with a cotton ball dipped in rubbing alcohol and then apply the antibiotic (it is a very strong one and is only available through prescription). This is very painful for the toddlers, but it is what my mother and grandmother told me to do... Impetigo can develop anywhere outside and even inside the body (the mucosa) if not treated immediately. You have to keep them from scratching with gloves of something and ask the doctor about some benadryl to calm the itchiness and desperation... Good luck!!