Folliculitis:
A parent's guide for infants and babies

Folliculitis is usually fairly easy to diagnose. However, your child's physician may perform a bacterial culture to determine the type of bacteria causing the folliculitis.

In the culture procedure, the doctor will:

1. Penetrate any blisters or pus-filled pockets with a needle, scalpel, or small blade (lancet).
2. Rub a sterile cotton swab across the skin to collect the sample.
3. Send the specimen away to a laboratory for evaluation.

If there are many bacteria present in the sample, the laboratory will usually have some idea of what type it is within 48–72 hours. However, the culture may take a full week or more to produce final results. In addition to identifying the type of bacterium that is causing the folliculitis, the laboratory usually performs a test (antibiotic sensitivity testing) to determine which antibiotics will be most effective in killing off the bacteria.

Depending on the culture results, your child's physician may recommend:

• Prescription-strength antibacterial wash, such as hexachlorophene.
• Topical antibiotic lotion or gel, such as erythromycin or clindamycin.
• Oral antibiotic pills or syrups, such as cephalexin or erythromycin.

Occasionally, the bacteria causing the infection may be resistant to treatment with the usual antibiotics (these are called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA). This infection can sometimes be more severe than other types of folliculitis. Depending on the circumstances, your child's doctor may consider more aggressive treatment that includes prescribing:

• A combination of 2 different oral antibiotics, including rifampin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, clindamycin, or tetracycline.
• A topical medication, mupirocin ointment, to apply to the nostrils.

If your child's doctor prescribes antibiotics, be sure the child takes the full course of treatment.