Impetigo and its treatment

Prescribing antibiotics for impetigo

Impetigo, a contagious superficial pyogenic infection of the skin, can be treated orally or topically. Nowadays oral erythromycin is the treatment of choice, although flucloxacillin is preferred in areas where the causative micro-organisms are resistant to erythromycin. Topical mupirocin ointment has shown itself to be as effective as oral therapy in many cases and is less likely to be associated with unwanted effects. The availability of 2 forms of therapy-oral and topical-means that treatment can be tailored according to the preferences of the patient. Consequently, drug therapy is more likely to be used appropriately. Arguments for and against the prescribing of each form of therapy are presented.

Impetigo contagiosa: a comparison of erythromycin and dicloxacillin therapy

One hundred patients with impetigo were prospectively enrolled in a study to determine the current etiology and comparative therapeutic efficacy of two oral antimicrobial agents active against both group A beta-hemolytic streptococci (GABS) and Staphylococcus aureus. After obtaining a bacterial culture from a representative impetiginous lesion, the children were randomized to receive 10 days of either erythromycin (40 mg/kg/day) or dicloxacillin (25 mg/kg/day). S. aureus alone was isolated from 46 children, and in association with GABS from 25 children. GABS alone was isolated from nine patients. Of the 59 evaluable children with S. aureus isolates, 28 of 29 treated with erythromycin and 29 of 30 treated with dicloxacillin were cured or improved on follow-up examination. Thus, we conclude that erythromycin is the drug of choice for impetigo in our midwestern locale because of its high efficacy and relatively low cost.