5-month-old baby's skin peels and oozes because parents are subjective

5-month-old baby came to see a doctor with peeling skin and pus discharge - Photo: Provided by the doctor

Doctor Nguyen Tien Thanh, a member of the Vietnam Dermatology Association, said he had just received a case of a 5-month-old child whose family brought him to the clinic with swollen face, limbs, oozing fluid, and peeling skin.

Through medical history, the baby's mother said that since 1 month old, the baby had red patches on both cheeks, then spread to the arms and legs, the skin was dry, rough, and itchy so the baby often scratched.

The family subjectively thought it was a skin allergy, so they treated it themselves by buying topical medicine, bathing with leaves, and applying medicine to the child, but the condition did not improve. Recently, the condition got worse, with red, swollen cheeks, oozing fluid and pus. The child was fussy and refused to breastfeed, so the family took him to the doctor.

Through examination, Dr. Thanh diagnosed the child with infected atopic dermatitis. With this condition, the child was treated actively, combined with local care, reducing inflammation and irritation to restore damage, reducing the risk of scarring on the face.

According to Dr. Thanh, atopic dermatitis is a common disease, most of which usually starts in childhood and then gradually decreases as the child gets older. Typical symptoms of the disease are dry skin lesions accompanied by itching.

"In particular, in infants, skin lesions are often localized on the forehead, cheeks, and chin. In severe cases, they can spread to the arms and trunk. Acute symptoms include red patches of skin with unclear boundaries, papules and clusters of papules, and vesicles that secrete fluid without scales. The skin is edematous, oozing fluid, and crusting.

The most prominent symptom of atopic dermatitis is itching. The itching causes children to have sleep disorders and loss of appetite, thereby negatively affecting their development and growth.

In addition, itching and dry skin will stimulate children to scratch, causing their skin to be scratched and bleeding, creating conditions for bacteria to penetrate, causing atopic dermatitis with secondary infection that can leave complications later on," Dr. Thanh informed.

In addition, some factors increase the risk of secondary infection of atopic dermatitis in children with atopic dermatitis such as parents not taking proper care of their skin, bathing, applying leaves, and arbitrarily buying topical medications for their children, which can make the child's skin condition worse, more persistent, and recurring many times.

"If not treated promptly, atopic dermatitis can lead to infection, skin ulcers, leaving permanent dark spots and scars, affecting aesthetics later on.

Therefore, when there are signs of the disease, patients should go to a medical facility for examination and treatment according to the appropriate regimen, to prevent the disease from progressing more severely, and to avoid unfortunate complications that may occur due to self-treatment," Dr. Thanh recommended.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/be-5-thang-tuoi-da-bong-troc-chay-dich-vi-cha-me-chu-quan-20240510234229639.htm