Don't scratch! Ecthyma vulgaris develops after insect bites

Combed areas on the skin that are very itchy after insect bites can become a gateway for the penetration of streptococcal infection and the development of ecthyma vulgaris. Ecthyma is a deep ulcerative lesion of the skin, which can be single or multiple, acquire a chronic course against the background of a weakening of the whole organism by internal diseases or reduced immunity. The main reason for the appearance of an ulcer on the skin is the saprophytic flora – streptococcus penetrates through damaged skin and causes an inflammatory reaction that requires immediate treatment.

Causes and symptoms of ecthyma vulgaris

A pustular-ulcerative lesion that appears on the skin if it is affected by staphylococcus aureus occurs with any damage to the skin – scratches, abrasions, cuts, but most often the diagnosis of ecthyma is made in the presence of insect bites, when these bites caused severe itching and were scratched to deep damage to the skin.

The development of ecthyma and the appearance of an ulcer on the skin can be facilitated by the patient's metabolic disorders in the body, diseases associated with impaired lymph and blood circulation, problems with immunity.

Skin ulcers as symptoms of ecthyma most commonly occur on the legs, lower back, and buttocks, but can sometimes spread throughout the body. First, a small pustule appears on the skin – sometimes one, but maybe several at once, its contents look serous-bloody, sometimes purulent. Later, the pustule opens on its own and dries up, becoming covered with a crust, and an edematous cyanotic rim forms around.

 If you open the crust, you will find a deep ulcer with a purulent coating and necrotic masses. After about a month, such ulcers on the skin are scarred, but traces of hyperpigmentation remain on the periphery. If the patient is weakened by internal diseases, skin ulcers may persist for several months. In addition, against the background of already healed sores, new pustules may appear. Possible accession of lymphadenitis.

Treatment of ecthyma vulgaris and risk factors

Factors affecting the severity of the disease include the presence of diabetes mellitus, tuberculosis, lack of vitamin A in the body, as well as scabies and pediculosis.  The manifestations of ecthyma are aggravated by increased sweating, hypothermia, congestion in the lower extremities. If the manifestations of ecthyma do not heal for a long time, they can become chronic, in a pyococcal ulcer.

Ecthyma therapy is mostly local – cleansing the ulcer on the skin from purulent secretions, treatment with disinfectants. Recommended the use of proteolytic enzymes, antibacterial ointments, taking drugs to strengthen the immune system, vitamin therapy. In the presence of multiple lesions, when ulcers on the skin cause severe inflammation and suppuration, systemic antibiotic therapy is used.