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Cellulitis
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Cellulitis is a swelling of the soft tissue under the skin, which is caused by bacterial infection. The bacteria that cause cellulitis enter the body through cracks in the skin that result from, for example, insect bites, wounds, or burns. The bacteria that are most often responsible for cellulitis are Group A streptococcus and staphylococcus. Cellulitis creates redness, warmth, tenderness and swelling in the infected areas. If the infection is allowed to spread, it can attack muscle and bone and, in rare cases, it can kill living tissue. Cellulitis can ... cause enclosed collections of pus called abscesses, which must be drained to prevent further infection.
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Cellulitis is a common soft tissue infection that extends into the subcutaneous tissues. Systemic antibiotic therapy is routinely used to treat cellulitis. However, identifying a specific pathogen is often not possible on clinical grounds. Therefore, antibiotic therapy with activity against group A Streptococcus and Staphylococcus aureus is usually selected empirically. Needle aspiration of fluid from the edge of the infection is sometimes performed but yields a pathogen in less than 20 percent of patients. Blood cultures are a more common means of identifying a bacterial pathogen, but the yield seems to be rather low and the results only marginally affect treatment.
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Cellulitis typically begins as a small, inflamed area of pain, swelling, warmth, and redness on a child's skin. As this red area begins to spread, the child may begin to feel sick and develop a fever, sometimes with chills and sweats. Swollen lymph nodes (commonly called swollen glands) are sometimes found near the area of infected skin. Cellulitis is not contagious.
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Cellulitis can cause tenderness, pain, swelling, and redness at the site of the infection. Fever and chills are ... common. Cellulitis can occur anywhere on the body. In adults, it often occurs on the legs, face, or arms. In children, it commonly develops on the face or around the anus. Facial infection requires immediate medical attention; antibiotics can help prevent a potentially dangerous eye infection.
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Cellulitis is caused by a bacterial infection, most often by group A streptococci and Staphylococcus aureus. Other types of bacteria may cause cellulitis in children, people in specific occupations (such as fish and meat handlers), and those exposed to water in aquariums and swimming pools. In 50 to 60% of cases, the patient has had some kind of skin injury (for example, cuts, insect bites, trauma, burns, surgical incisions, intravenous catheters, dermatitis). Upper respiratory infections precede one third of erysipelas cases. Erysipelas is an acute, superficial type of cellulitis involving the lymph system. It is seen in infants, young children, and the elderly, and is generally caused by streptococcal infection.
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Cellulitis is defined as inflammation of cellular or connective tissue. This condition can be caused by bacterial contaminants that produce an infectious process that requires immediate intervention. The normal bacterial inhabitants on the lower extremity include Staphylococci, Streptococci, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Corynebacterium, and many more. An intact epidermal layer of stratum corneum will not allow entry of these organisms. A breach of this barrier is necessary for infection to occur. The portal of entry into the skin may be through a sweat gland, an abrasion, or laceration.
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Cellulitis