rile disturbance and malaise.
Itching may or may not be present.

#State the cause of the disease.#

It is contagious, the contents of the lesions being inoculable and
auto-inoculable. At times it seems to prevail in epidemic form. Pyogenic
microorganisms are now regarded as causative. A relationship to
vaccination has been alleged by some observers. It is more commonly
observed in infants and young children.

#From what diseases is impetigo contagiosa to be differentiated?#

From eczema, pemphigus, and ecthyma.

#How does impetigo contagiosa differ from these several diseases?#

By the character of the lesions, their growth, their superficial nature,
their course, the absence of an inflammatory base and areola, the thin,
yellowish, wafer-like crusts, and usually a history of contagion.

#State the prognosis.#

The effect of treatment is usually prompt. The disease, indeed, tends to
spontaneous disappearance in two to four weeks; in exceptional
instances, more especially in those cases in which itching is present,
the excoriations or scratch-marks become inoculated, and in this way it
may persist several weeks.

#What is the treatment of impetigo contagiosa?#

Treatment consists in the destruction of the auto-inoculable properties
of the contents of the lesions; this is effected by removing the crusts
by means of warm water-and-soap washings, and subsequently rubbing in an
ointment of ammoniated mercury, ten to twenty grains to the ounce. Some
cases respond more rapidly to the use of a drying ointment, such as
Lassar's paste, with ten to twenty grains of white precipitate or
sulphur to the ounce. In itching cases, a saturated solution of boric
acid, or a carbolic-acid lotion, one to two drachms to the pint, is to
be employed for general application.

#Impetigo Herpetiformis.#

#Describe impetigo herpetiformis.#

Impetigo herpetiformis is an extremely rare disease, observed usually in
pregnant women, and is characterized by the appearance of numerous
isolated and closely-crowded pin-head-sized superficial pustules, which
show a decided disposition to the formation of circular groups or
patches. The central portion of these groups dries to crusts, while new
pustules appear at the peripheral portion. They tend to coalesce, and in
this manner a greater part of the whole surface may, in the course of
weeks or months, become involved. Profound constitutional disturbance,
us