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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffAlthough anyone can develop impetigo, children ages 2 to 6 years and infants are most often infected. Children are especially susceptible to infections because their immune systems are still developing. And because staph and strep bacteria flourish wherever groups of people are in close contact, impetigo spreads easily in schools and child care settings.
Other factors that increase the risk of impetigo include:
- Direct contact with an adult or child who has impetigo or with contaminated towels, bedding or clothing
- Crowded conditions
- Warm, humid weather — impetigo infections are more common in summer
- Participation in sports that involve skin-to-skin contact, such as football or wrestling
- Pre-existing chronic dermatitis, especially atopic dermatitis
Older adults and people with diabetes or a compromised immune system are especially likely to develop ecthyma, the most serious form of impetigo.
- Habif, TP. Bacterial infections. In: Clinical Dermatology: A Color Guide to Diagnosis and Therapy. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby, Inc; 2004. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/103909824-2/0/1195/53.html?tocnode=51440785&fromURL=53.html#4-u1.0-B0-323-01319-8..50011-X_938. Accessed Aug. 11, 2008.
- Morelli JG. Cutaneous bacterial infections. In: Kliegman RM, et al. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/103909824-3/743716949/1608/1552.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2450-7..50666-6--cesec5_12130. Accessed Aug. 11, 2008.
- Cole C, et al. Diagnosis and treatment of impetigo. American Family Physician. 2007;75(6):859-864, 868.
- Lopez FA, et al. Skin and soft tissue infections. Infectious Disease Clinics of North America. 2006;20(4):759-772.
- Community-associated MRSA information for the public. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_mrsa_ca_public.html. Accessed Aug. 11, 2008
- Baddour LM, et al. Impetigo. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 11, 2008.
