Impetigo Secondary to Chickenpox

Impetigo developed on the face of a 7-year-old boy who had chickenpox. The patient was given a 10-day course of oral cephalexin and mupirocin( ointment; the infection resolved promptly. As many as 10,000 children and adolescents are hospitalized each year because of chickenpox and its complications, and 43 of these youngsters die.1A significant decrease in varicella-caused morbidity is expected with wider use of the chickenpox vaccine.

References
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Varicella-related deaths among children—United States, 1997. MMWR. 1998;47:365-368. (Case and photograph courtesy of Dr Robert P. Blereau.)