Erysipelas is a disease diagnosed more and more often in recent years. The disease is prone to relapse, is acute. Its feature is the presence of infectious foci on the mucous membranes and areas of the skin. Class A streptococcus infection is provoked. As a rule, erysipelas and general poisoning of the body are characteristic of erysipelas. Higher frequency of occurrence in autumn, summer. The disease is more often diagnosed in women than in men. Up to 60% of patients over forty years of age.
Where did the trouble come from?
Erysipelas is a disease that Streptococcus class A can provoke. Infection occurs through a violation of the integrity of the mucous membranes, the epidermis. You can get sick by getting an abrasion or a microscopic injury. Streptococci can penetrate the body in the presence of diaper rash, cracks or other violations of the integrity of the integument. You can get infected by meeting with a carrier of bacteria, as well as with a person suffering from streptococcal disease. The form of the disease does not play a role.
Erysipelas is a disease transmitted predominantly by aerosol, although contact infections are known. This is more typical of those who are forced to use tools with which a potential carrier of bacteria contacts. Can be infected through dressings.
Risks and Dangers
Doctors have found that erysipelas is a disease that occurs more often in people undergoing steroid medication. The risk group includes people suffering from chronic infectious diseases, and of a very different nature. This can be, for example, caries, chronic inflammation in the throat, nose, and larynx. There is a higher risk of erysipelas in case of venous insufficiency or violation of tissue trophism.
Streptococcal colonies, multiplying on the skin, secrete exotoxins. Enzymes of microorganisms, elements of the cell wall can leak into the systemic circulation, whereby toxinemia, leading to an infectious-toxic syndrome, becomes one of the signs of "erysipelas" disease. Short-term bacteremia is possible. In the skin, the formation of the immune complex is observed, which over time violates the integrity of the walls of the vessels.
How to notice?
Symptoms of erysipelas indicating the need for treatment of the disease include acute deterioration and fever, in which the temperature rises to 40 degrees. The incubation period in some is several hours, in other cases it can reach five days. Symptoms in general indicate general poisoning of the body, the patient feels weak, headache, chills, nausea, body aches. Symptoms of the “erysipelas” disease by the end of the first day or the beginning of the second day of the acute period become most pronounced in the local area of the skin - the element where the infection entered the body. This area itches, burns, hurts. Some patients describe the sensation as bursting.
Over time, in addition to the above symptoms of the disease, erysipelas provoke erythema, swelling of the affected area. This part of the body when touched is hot, it hurts. The boundaries are clear, uneven, visually similar to a bonfire. At the borders there is an infiltration roller.
Note
Pressure on the affected area causes erythema to disappear for a few seconds - this is one of the characteristic symptoms of the disease. Erysipelas on the leg, face, body are often accompanied by inflammatory processes in the lymphatic system. This is manifested by the compaction of regional nodes, painful sensations near them, as well as a deterioration in mobility. If the disease is accompanied by hemorrhagic syndrome, the patient notes petechiae, the formation of bruises. Hemorrhage is observed.
Erysipelas is a skin disease that is often formed according to the erythematous-bullous scenario. In this case, blisters with serous matter covering the affected area become signs. If the scenario is bullous-hemorrhagic, blood joins the serous fluid . Over time, the rashes open, ulcers appear in their place. As they recover, these areas are secreted by pigmentation. Scar formation is possible.
How to clarify the case?
According to doctors, the clinical picture of various infectious diseases is somewhat similar. Erysipelas also belong to this class of pathologies, and each specific case requires clarification, otherwise it will not work to choose an adequate treatment. To determine the features and formulations of a specific diagnosis, it is necessary to examine the patient and send him to specialized studies.
The first and basic analysis is a laboratory blood test for changes that have caused an inflammation in the body. They also take blood for a coagulogram. With erysipelas, hemostasis failures and a violation of fibrinolysis are detected. To clarify the case, it is necessary to do a serological examination. The most widely used modern method is PCR. The samples of organic liquids obtained from the patient are checked for antistreptolysin-O titers.
Types and classification
A complete picture of the disease can be obtained by studying specialized medical guides, which not only describe the symptoms and characteristics of the disease, but also present photos. Erysipelas is a disease that can develop in a strictly localized or migratory form. Sometimes a generalized variant or metastases is diagnosed.
The prevalence of lesions distinguish the following forms of erysipelas:
- localized
- migratory (creeping, wandering);
- widespread (generalized);
- metastatic
By the nature of the skin elements of the erysipelas it happens:
- erythematous;
- erythematous hemorrhagic;
- erythematous bullous;
- bullous hemorrhagic.
The course of the “erysipelas” disease on the leg, face, body allows us to rank the case as primary, repeated, relapse. Severity - mild, moderate, severe course.
What to do?
It is necessary to consult a doctor as soon as a suspicion of a disease arose. Erysipelas on a foot or other part of the body should be treated under the supervision of a qualified doctor. If there are symptoms similar to the described, you should use the services of a professional for differential diagnosis of the case. Even if the reason is not in the face, only a professional will be able to determine which treatment method is optimal in a particular case.
Having clarified the diagnosis, the doctor will offer a medical course. How to treat the disease? Erysipelas is among the infectious diseases; therefore, antimicrobial therapy is most effective for its elimination. Most often, penicillin-based drugs are prescribed to the patient. Perhaps the use of nitrofuran series, sulfonamides. Non-hormonal drugs are sometimes prescribed for the relief of inflammatory processes. To alleviate the condition and weaken the autoimmune response of the body, antihistamines can be used.
Therapy: Appearances and Passwords
Topically, to reduce the symptoms, an Enteroseptol powder is used. To eliminate local symptoms, an ointment containing erythromycin can be used. In some cases, patients are shown biological stimulants. Popular drugs are Levamisole, Methyluracil. In order to stimulate the immune system and improve the patient’s immune status, maintain the body’s strength in the treatment of “erysipelas” disease (on the leg or in another area of localization), the patient is prescribed multivitamin complexes. In some cases, a blood transfusion is indicated.
If there are indications for this, the patient is sent for physiotherapeutic procedures to eliminate the symptoms of the disease. The treatment of erysipelas is often practiced using ultraviolet lamps and quartz radiation, UHF and local use of laser devices.
Nuances
Without adequate therapy, a prolonged case may provoke an abscess, phlegmon. Since the disease affects the quality of the vascular wall, the likelihood of blood clots forming in the veins increases. Bubbles can fester, the likelihood of lymphadenitis increases. In rare cases, without adequate treatment for erysipelas, it provoked blood poisoning, infectious toxic shock, and acute heart failure.
To prevent erysipelas, bicillin prophylaxis is necessary. The course is prescribed by the doctor after getting rid of the first episode of the disease. Primary prevention - careful hygiene, timely treatment of any violations of the integrity of the skin, mucous membranes.
Features of Infectious Disease
Erysipelas is more often manifested on the legs, more rarely localized on the face, body. Particularly high probability is that streptococcus, penetrating through the skin, can multiply in the body if the immune system is weak, a person is susceptible to disease, or has not yet recovered after a severe pathology or course of treatment. Often, erysipelas affects amid other diseases.
During an acute infectious process of erysipelas, it provokes an increase in heart rate. If the disease is severe, the patient raves. Convulsions are possible. In the absence of adequate treatment, the skin areas on which streptococcal colonies are localized begin to peel off. The shade of the integument is broken.
Forms and their features
- Erythematic erysipelas is a form of the disease in which the affected area hurts, reddens, swells. The area protrudes above the healthy surface of the skin, often has clear boundaries. Outwardly resembles a bonfire.
- The bullous form of erythema in erysipelas on the third day from the onset of the acute form progresses to the formation of vesicles with watery contents. Over time, they dry out, the integrity of the cover is broken.
- The erythematous-bullous scenario is rarely accompanied by a complication in the form of scars at the site of the vesicles. This only happens when the condition progresses until ulcers appear.
- The erythematic-hemorrhagic scenario is characterized by hemorrhages in the area of pain.
- Bullous hemorrhagic is an option when the area is covered with vesicles, inside which the liquid contains blood.
Manifestations and severity
- If the disease is mild, the temperature does not exceed 39 degrees. The patient feels weak. Manifestations on the skin are relatively small.
- Medium severity is a rather lengthy infectious process, which is characterized by all the typical signs of erysipelas described above.
- If the pathology develops according to a difficult scenario, acute symptoms are accompanied by a violation of psychoemotional status.
Relapses are observed if the primary erysipelas has not been completely eliminated, as well as when factors weakening the natural defenses are affected by the human body. These include inflammatory foci in the body, infection by pathogenic microbes, fungi. Relapse is indicated if a repeat of erysipelas is observed within two years from the moment of getting rid of the primary focus, while the area of localization coincides.
Over time, erysipelas can cause necrotic foci. There is a possibility of periadenitis. Higher chance of complications in relapse-prone disease.
Medications and treatment: some nuances
As a rule, treatment is practiced at home with regular visits to the doctor to monitor the progress of the condition. If the disease is very difficult, hospitalization is possible. Outpatient treatment is practiced if the patient is elderly or suffers from concomitant severe health problems, as well as if the erysipelas is prone to frequent relapses.
At the stage of the fever, it is necessary to drink plenty of warm and use antipyretic medicines. To improve the general condition, you can take vitamins. The diseased area of the skin is regularly covered with antimicrobial ointment and fixed with a bandage. Antibiotics are a central element of treatment.
The duration of treatment of erysipelas without complications is 7-10 days. Oletetrin is used orally up to six times daily, a quarter of a gram. You can use "Metacyclin" three times a day for 0.3 g. The doctor may recommend stopping at "Oleandomycin" or "Erythromycin." These antibiotics are used per day in an amount of not more than 2 g. Sometimes it is recommended to use Biseptol or Sulfaton for erysipelas. Both drugs are used twice a day for a pair of tablets after a meal.
Options and Approaches
If the patient's condition forces the patient to be hospitalized, “Benzylpenicillin” in the form of a solution for intramuscular administration is usually used as part of the therapeutic cus. Additionally, patients are prescribed non-hormonal drugs to stop inflammation foci. To maintain the strength of the body, it is recommended to take Ascorutin. A doctor may prescribe multivitamin complexes or agents to stabilize the intestinal microflora.
If the erysipelas is localized on the legs, local treatment can be practiced. The doctor cuts blisters from the edge, treats the focus with Furacilin. Bandages with him will have to be changed daily several times.
In the acute stage of erysipelas, the patient should visit a physiotherapy room to undergo procedures using ultraviolet radiation, UHF. When the acute phase passes, the affected areas are treated with ointments, applying dressings.
With erysipelas, the sick-list is closed seven days after normalization of the temperature; for another quarter of a year they are registered with the infectious disease specialist. In relapse, it is necessary to use other drugs that are different from those used in the past. As the situation stabilizes for a period of 6-24 months. the patient will have to receive Retarpen or Bitsillin 5 once every three weeks.
To activate regenerative local processes, you can use Bepanten ointment, Dermazin ointment.
How to help yourself at home?
The use of alternative recipes for the treatment of erysipelas must be agreed with a qualified doctor. When the acute stage is just beginning, it is necessary to use antibiotics - without them, it is simply impossible to cure the face, in addition, the risk of complications is too high.
To relieve itching and burning of the affected area, you can lubricate the site with camphor, aloe juice, plantain. If the skin hurts very badly, novocaine solution can be added to the juice of the plant. Liquids are mixed in equal proportions. If erysipelas is accompanied by suppuration, you can apply bandages with Solcoseryl.
What will the healers advise?
It is believed that frog caviar can come to the aid of erysipelas . It must be collected in spring in still water. Caviar is spread on gauze with a thin layer and dried in the sun, stored in this form. As needed, the product is soaked in pre-boiled water and used for local treatment of the diseased area. The caviar is covered with a clean linen cloth and fixed on top. To achieve a complete cure, as experts in traditional medicine say, in five procedures.
Cottage cheese is considered effective against erysipelas. You need to use a natural farm product, not a store one. A thick layer of cottage cheese is applied to the affected areas, and as it dries, it changes to fresh. During the procedure, you must remain at rest. No fixation required.
Of the herbs with erysipelas, it is most often recommended to resort to plantain. The leaves are crushed, mixed with crushed chalk. Ready slurry is applied to the affected areas of the skin, fixed with a gauze bandage.