three-day MEDICAL TREATMENT Your doctor will give your child antibiotics by mouth or by injection. The doctor may open and drain the point of infection. Culture of the blood or of material from the site of the original infection may be necessary. Laboratory tests, including blood studies and a urinalysis, may be necessary. Hospitalization may be necessary if the blood poisoning is severe. RELATED TOPICS: Blisters; Cuts: Fever; Glands, swollen: Puncture wounds gaick Reference Boils SYMPTOMS • Redness • Pain • Pus HOME CARE • Soak with warm Epsom salts solution (onehalf cup of Epsom salts per quart of water). • When a boil drains, catch the drainage on a sterile bandage to avoid spreading infection. • Frequently clean surrounding skin with soap and water. PRECAUTIONS • If boils develop on the face, see your doctor. • Do not let drainage from a boil come in contact with the eyes. • Do not squeeze boils. • Treat all minor wounds and insect bites properly to avoid boils or other infections.? Boils are local infections that occur beneath the skin. They are almost always caused by a bacterium called hemolytic Staphylococcus aureus-"staph" for short. Boils are identified by redness, pain, аад the formation of pus in the center, which tends to "point" (come to a head) and drain through the skin. Pus is a mixture of live and dead white blood cells, liquefied dead tissue, and live and dead staph gerrns Pus is therefore infectious: it can spread boils to other areas and to other persons. A small superficial boil is a pimple or pustule. (An acne pimple is not a true boil.) A large boil with several heads is a carbuncle. A boil on the edge of the eyelid is a stye. When many boils are present at one time, the condition is called furunculosis. Abscesses are collections of pus in parts of the body other than the skin, as in muscles, brain, bone, and internal organs. Abscesses are like boils, but often they are caused by organisms other than staph germs. Boils are identified by the accompanying redness and pain and the formation of pus in the center. A large boil with several heads is caI carbuncle. lied a Staph germs are often harmlessly present in the nose and throat or on the skin of well persons. Staph germs on the skin cause no problems unless there is a cut or break in the skin. If the germs enter the body through a break in the skin, they cause infections.? 4IGNS AND SYMPTOMS Boils are easily recognized by their redness, pain, and the forma tion Of pus in the center. HOME CARE Boils are treated with frequent or constant soaks in warm Epsom its solution (onehalf cup per quart of water). When a boil comes to a head and drains, the drainage must be caught on a sterile bandage to avoid spreading the infection. The surrounding skin should be cleansed frequently with soap and water to avoid the occurrence of additional boils. PRECAUTIONS • See your doctor if boils develop on the face. infantum