Baby's sore neck - Impetigo?

[morningpaper]

6 month old has sore neck - red and shiny patch about 1.5 inches across, which is a bit weepy. Been like it for several weeks.

Went to pharmacist yesterday who said it looked like thrush and to see Doctor.

Rang Doctor - he said sounds like impetigo. Went in and he said yes looks like impetigo and gave antibiotic cream.

1. She is supposed to be at nursery at end of week - if impetigo then I have to keep her off for one week
2. Could it REALLY be impetigo - there's no rash at all and it hasn't spread and no one I know has this (we mix with a lot of kiddies). It doesn't look like any of the pics on Google of impetigo, it's just one red and shiny patch.

Feel confoosed about what to do! Should I keep her off nursery and alert them through their Infectious Diseases policy?

is it crusty? is the weepy stuff yellow and cloudy? is it one patch or a collection of little blistery spots?
unusual for it to be on the neck - most often on face (nose and mouth).
If it is impetigo, it is infectious for 2 days after you start the treatment.

It's just one patch and on her neck where she is always a bit damp (you know what baby chub is like)

The weepy stuff is clear

There are no spots, it it just pink and shiny

I wish he'd taken a swab, I would have had the results back by the time she needs to be at nursery

hmm. i'm not a medic but doesn't sound very impetigo-ish to me...BUT if it is, it's better your GP caught it now before it's spread too far and got really nasty (it can be HIDEOUS!)
My kids' school has policy that if you have impetigo, you can't be in class till crusty bits are dry (ie: no weeping).
So you might be OK by the end of the week anyway.
Sorry, that's probably not much help, is it?

I HATE it when I come back from the GP and wish I'd ask more questions

WISH he'd taken a swab :(

even if it isn't impetigo, that antibiotic cream should sort it out (the weeping and all that)

some of dd's friends have had impetigo as one spot but it always looked yellowish and crusty to me (we've not had it so not an expert in any way)

what a pain for you

Know just what you mean - nothing like a GP appt to reduce me from reasonably assertive person to quiveringly servile blob of non-questioning jelly.
If the patch hasn't spread and is dry, I'd feel OK about sending your baby to nursery at the end of the week (with patch covered, just to be on the safe side).
But nursery will probably make the decision for you: you'll have to tell them because you'll need them to put the cream on, won't you?

Have rung nursery and confessed everything

They will find out their policy and let me know!

My dd who is 3.5 has a similar thing on her back since February. We are on the third cream from doctors. He originaly thought it was impetigo but is now questioning his diagossis as has not spread to us or on her. We think it could be infected excema patch. Hope your dd's clears up soon.

Thanks Joceybean

What a nightmare - has your doctor done a skin swab?

Doesn't sound like classic impetigo but could be infected eczema as someone has said. Anti-bs will clear it up if it is impetigo. If it isn't.... back to the docs! I hope it gets sorted soon. I had to go and see the doc 9 times about something similar with ds.

beansprout 9 times!

If it doesn't clear up in a week I will insist on a skin swab next time. I don't want to arse around with different antibiotics on the off-chance that it is x, y or z.

She isn't prone to eczema so I don't think it is that.

I think I will do the same and ask for a skin swab. (didn't think of that der!) Then again perhaps he should have.

From what you've described it sounds very similar to what my daughter had at 3wks: very red,shiny,weepy (but clear weep) 'welt' on her neck, under her chubb, but nowhere else, and it was very sore to touch.

The doctor just told me it was infected skin and gave me Fucidin and it cleared it up within 3/4 days. A small patch came back the other day (she's now 3mths) and the cream got rid of it overnight. So hopefully, your antibotic cream should zap it by the end of the week.

Good luck with the cream!