Is this a tonight emergency or can it wait to tomorrow?

[Sugarplumfairy34]

A bit of background, 4 Yr old came home last Sunday from dad's, gunky knee, cleaned, washed and dressed. Monday it popped, went to MIU confirmed he had something stuck in it. They used Duoderm and told us to come back Thursday. Forward to Thursday, they have confirmed everything is out and it should all scab over and be fine etc. However since Friday morning, these spots have started to appear. Some blister like, some puss filled. Its gotten warm over the last 24hr also. He complains it stings, I've been cleaning with a warm flannel etc. Hes currently sound asleep for the first time in days, so don't wanna disturb if I dont have to. The green line is so I can monitor whether its spreading also. The other imagine is thursday evening after the dressing came off.

That probably makes it less likely then.

I can get allergic rashes that extend out further than the dressing which started it, but they never have white heads. Are you sure it's not impetigo?

Having said that, I would ring 111 and get myself an out of hours drs appointment IF there's somewhere to get antibiotics from. Not much point if there aren't any late pharmacies though.

Impetigo leave crusts etc and there is none of that on his knee. It looks like he's got loads of big white heads on his knee, and some look blister like. Ive spoken to 111 who are going to most likely book an appointment for him tomorrow hopefully. We can't get anything this late, as Im quite rural, would spend half the night trying to find somewhere open. Hes sound asleep, with no temp, so I think I'll leave him. Thanks everyone :)

Good luck for tomorrow!

Hope he feels better soon and they find out what it is

I'd get him seen when he wakes. My dd's knee cut got infected but the tracking was quick and obvious - think knee to half way down shin. Turned out she had mrsa and was in hospital on multi antibiotic drips for a few days. So it can happen, but for us the tracking was the trigger, so keep an eye on that and act if it starts.

Could it be an allergic reaction to the dressing? My DH cut his shin open on the pedal of his bike last summer and had a reaction to the wound dressing. It caused small, pus-filled blister-type spots exactly like you describe. He had to get antibiotics to clear it. I hope your little boy is okay.

Bless him. Let us know how he is in the morning!

Sounds possibly a Staphylococcus aureus infection. Will need antibiotics if so.

I’d go in, having had something similar with one of the DC. Needed antibiotics, all ok after that but not the sort of thing you want to spread any further. The little spots were where the infection was spreading I think.

It was a similar dressing and this age I discovered my daughter was allergic to plasters. The small blisters around the edge , the complaining of pain sounds very similar

Thank you everyone. Hes just woken briefly and the redness is not spreading so that is good, its localised to just his knee. Appears a couple of the spots have popped during the night, I'll need to re-clean when he's properly up as the ones that have popped must of been wet as they have now got fluff in. He says he's woken cause it hurts and needs more medicine, so its definitely effecting him. I think it might be highly likely he's just had a nasty reaction to the duoderm but it still needs checking over, so am going to go back to MIU with him in a few hrs.

I am allergic to plasters and on a couple of occasions when I’ve used one that I’m allergic to, I’ve come out in blisters all around the wound. They’ve been worse and caused more scarring than the wound has been.

I had a staph A infection of a small wound on my thumb. Exactly how you describe. I needed two courses of antibiotics and it was pretty serious. I usually try to be fairly laid back with medical things but your description reminds me a lot of what happened to my thumb. I’d get him to a doctor asap today and ask for a swab test.

edited to add: if you’re giving him paracetamol as pain relief if could be hiding a raised temperature. Definitely get it swabbed.

Best wishes - hope he's seen quickly and it improves soon. Had his knee been cleaned, washed and dressed when with Dad? If not you may have to say something about the importance of cleaning wounds.

Get it checked OP. I have my own cautionary tale, too long for here but it could be infected or he might be getting cellulitis. Hope he’s on the mend soon.

Thank you! It hadn't and ironically he was also with his nan who is a nurse 🙃 - dad's feeling was he was alright in himself, and he didn't notice to he was basically coming home so didn't bother to do anything with it. I cleaned and dressed it when he got home.

We've got an appointment at half 9 this morning, so will take him up for then. It doesn't look as angry this morning and a few of the spots/blisters have popped in his sleep. He's still saying its sore, so it'll be good to have it looked at.

Hope you're getting seen soon @Sugarplumfairy34 has his Nan seen the recent photos for her opinion?

She did and she queried whether it was a reaction to the dressing, she said to clean it, keep an eye, avoid him touching it. Which we have done all those things and seen little improvement.

111 cause people to die, they are not still the service they set out as being, with proper medical personnel, they are call handlers now. I have firsthand experience of this, migraine that was actually blood clots and resulted in a death.

Take him to be seen! It’s likely turning septic and given the timeline, he needs antibiotics urgently. Hope he’s okay

That's shocking. When you say nurse, do you mean a fully qualified SRN equivalent one? Sorry to ask but so many HCAs call themselves nurses nowadays.

It sounds as though his father and gran were neglectful and I'd reconsider how contact takes place.

Yeah full nurse! She's actually one that works in a training academy teaching new nurses etc. His dad can be a bit slapdash, but he isn't a bad dad, just not very forward thinking.

Looks like my reaction to the adhesive of plasters. It gets very painful. I’m also the same with those sticky tape stitches.