The common types of skin infections being treated in most hospitals today are bacterial skin infections which are commonly caused by the Gram positive bacteria belonging to the Streptococcus and Staphylococcus species. These infections are categorized into three common types; Cellulitis, folliculitis and Impetigo.



Cellulitis is one of the bacterial skin infections which normally occurs in places where the skin appears to be broken. Such areas may include surgical wounds, cuts from cutlery, pricks from sharp objects, ulcerations and so on. Rarely does this type of skin infection appear on a normal skin surface. The infection causes the patient to experience pain around the area where the infection is and may cause one to suffer from fever. The immune system of the patient may contain a high count of white blood cells so that it may try to fight the infection. Cellulitis is considered dangerous because it is able to attack skin on any part of the body including the face, legs, hands, feet, torso, buttocks and even the neck.

The above mentioned infection damages the skin by having the bacteria causing this infection (S. aureus ) destroying the cells of the patient either progressively or regressively from the area where the wound is situated. When the infection has not yet reached an advanced stage, your doctor may decide to administer the oral treatment on you but when it has advanced so much, parenteral therapy is the best way to treat it. This method usually involves marking the outline or if you like, margins of the erythema with ink so as to know exactly how far in the skin the infection has reached. Repeated attacks by cellulitis may tamper with the lymphatic circulation or even cause epidermal thickening.

Another one of the bacterial skin infections is the Impetigo skin infection. This infection is mainly seen in children aged between two years and five years and it is primarily caused by the S. aureus bacteria. The infection is usually transmitted from one child to another through body contact. This can happen during playtime, during fights or through handling items of other children who might be suffering from this infection. Just like the Cellulitis infection, Impetigo skin infection normally attacks areas which appear to have broken skin. These areas are such as, wounds, cuts and areas which have been subjected to a herpes simplex infection.

Impetigo skin infections are characterized by sores and pustules on the skin which have adherent or yellowish crusts on them. Other times, the presence of the infection may be noticed due to the existence of a large bulla that has a thin wall covering a yellow fluid in it. The bulla often bursts and releases the yellow fluid which was contained in it leaving behind a ring like shaped bulla on the skin. A local pediatrician may be in a position to diagnose the infection and determine what type it is and provide the child with proper medication. Here, proper hygiene is also supposed to be maintained for the child to avoid this skin infection spreading.

Folloculitis is a skin condition also grouped among the bacterial skin infections. It occurs as a result of hair follicles being inflamed by either physical injury, chemical irritation or other types of infection. It causes a soft pustule, which is somehow painless to occur on the skin and after a given period, it heals itself and disappears completely from the skin. Most of the time a hair shaft will be noticed to be appearing in the central point of the pustule while lesions would appear on any skin surface having hair on it. This includes surfaces such as skin on the chest, head, buttocks, neck, legs, hands and pubic areas.

The S. aureus bacteria are believed to be the causes of this infection although the yeast may also contribute in patients who have a lower immunity count. To heal this condition much faster, the topical therapy with mupirocin may be used.

Wangeci Kinyanjui is an expert on research and reporting on Health Matters for years.To get more information on bacterial skin infections visit her site at