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Your skin is your body's largest organ. Among its many jobs, it covers and protects your body and helps keep germs out.
How infections start
Sometimes germs do get in and cause a skin infection. This often happens through a break, cut or wound in the skin. Infections can also start where skin rubs together, especially if the area is moist, or where blood supply is poor or the immune system is weakened by another disease or a treatment. Some infections stay in a small area on the surface; others go deep into the skin or spread widely.
What causes them
| Germ | Examples |
|---|---|
| Bacteria | cellulitis, impetigo, staphylococcal (staph) infections |
| Viruses | shingles, warts, herpes simplex |
| Fungi | athlete's foot, yeast infections |
| Parasites | body lice, head lice, scabies |
Who is more likely to get one
You are more likely to get a skin infection if you:
- have poor circulation or diabetes;
- are older;
- have an immune system disease, such as HIV, or a weakened immune system from chemotherapy or other immune-suppressing medicines;
- must stay in one position for a long time — for example in bed through a long illness, or because of paralysis;
- are malnourished;
- have excess skinfolds, which can happen with obesity.
Symptoms
They depend on the infection, but many share rashes, swelling, redness, pain, pus and itching.
Diagnosis
Your health care provider will examine you and ask about your symptoms. You may have lab tests, such as a skin culture, which identifies the infection from a sample taken by swabbing or scraping the skin or removing a small piece of it (biopsy). Sometimes other tests, such as blood tests, are used.
Treatment
It depends on the type of infection and how serious it is. Some infections clear up on their own. When treatment is needed, it may be a cream or lotion for the skin, medicines, or a procedure to drain pus.
Sources
Based on "Skin Infections," MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
Лицензия: CC0 1.0 (общественное достояние) · По материалам medlineplus.gov
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