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Infection With Peeling Skin

A staphylococcal infection can result in scalded skin syndrome, making your skin peel. The skin will react to a staph infection, causing the skin to blister and then peel as It if had been burned. An individual suffering from a staphylococcal infection will also experience weakness, fever and chills. The diagnosis of this condition can generally be made just by looking at the skin. This type of infection is treated with antibiotics

  1. Identification

    • This type of staph infection makes the skin split, according to Merck.com. Bacteria from the infection secretes substances that are toxic, which cause the top layer of the epidermis to split from the rest of your skin. The skin on your entire body can end up peeling because this type of staph infection can spread everywhere. The skin condition is contagious.

    Features

    • Staphylococcal scalded skin condition generally strikes young children under the age of six, as well as infants. However, older people who have weakened immune systems or kidney failure can acquire this type of infection.

    Appearance

    • When a child or infant is suffering from staphylococcal scalded skin, the infection will manifest in crusted skin that looks very much like impetigo. An infant will get the infection around the stump of the umbilical cord or in the diaper area. Older kids will usually get the infection on their face. Scarlet-colored areas will pop up around the crusted area within 24 hours of the onset of the infection. These areas will be sore to the touch and will have a wrinkled, tissue paper-like consistency. Blisters will develop and break.

    Process

    • The skin will peel off in large sheets if the skin is touched even slightly. The areas that are peeled will appear scalded. When a person loses the protective skin barrier, which occurs with this condition, infective organisms can easily penetrate the skin, causing super-infections. Oozing of the skin will cause loss of fluids, which can lead to dehydration.

    Treatment

    • A small piece of skin can be sent to a lab for testing to definitively determine what is causing the peeling skin. If staph is the reason, antibiotics are prescribed and the skin wounds are treated with topical emollients, which reduce itching and keeps the skin from drying out.

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