impetigo - how long should we keep our distance?

[allatsea]

I'm supposed to be visiting my sister and her 5.5yo on Thursday. Impetigo swept through her class last week. The little girl only had a couple of spots around her mouth and the nurse they saw gave her some cream and said that it would be ok for her to go back to school on Monday. Is it ok for my 9mo dd to visit this week?

I spoke to my sil yesterday who said that she'd never let her child near one with impetigo. Is this good advice or a little bit extreme?

As long as you don't touch the crusts, or share flannels/towels you should be fine. It is very infectious if you touch the weeping bit.

I had impetigo and it was horrible and left a permanent mark by my mouth, but I'd go and just stop them kissing each other!

It used to be really difficult to get rid of, but antibiotic cream soon stops it now

Thanks Enid, I'll try and stop the kissing, although my niece thinks that she's dd 'other mummy'! As dd is teething and putting everything she touches into her mouth do you think it's ok for her to play with my nieces toys?

I wouldn't share toys, no. It might seem a bit extreme but it is very infectious if you are putting things into your mouth. Your niece may have touched the spots then touched the toys.

Antibiotic cream does stop it really quickly but you have to scrape the scabs off to put it on the weepy bit underneath and this means it can scar.

My dd's school states that children can go back to school after 48hrs of treatment of both oral and topical a/b's, which is the treatment of choice nowadays. I'm not sure how long topical treatment alone takes to work. Impetigo is very infectious, though.

DS had impetigo this year. We kept him away from everyone, as its extremely infectious. Luckily, he shrugged it off fast and infected no-one, but a couple of yrs ago, a friends child was in a real painful messs with it for weeks. I wouldn't like to risk it with a baby.