Impetigo (School Sores)

It begins with a small redness. Perhaps around the mouth, perhaps on the hands. Then blisters form, rupture, ooze, and leave a honey-yellow crust. Impetigo — commonly known as school sores — is one of the most common bacterial skin infections in children. It is highly contagious, it spreads quickly, and it tends to settle where the skin is visible: on the face, the hands, the places that face the world.

Medicine sees bacteria — streptococci, staphylococci — and treats with ointments or antibiotics. That is sensible and often necessary. Yet the psychosomatic perspective asks an additional question: why does this infection break out right now? Why in this particular child, in this family, at this stage of life? What has prepared the inner soil on which the pathogens were able to gain a foothold?