Erysipelas, also known as St. Anthony’s fire, is another illness to become aware of. Here’s what The Ship’s Medicine Chest and Medical Aid at Sea has to say about it:
The term erysipelas comes from two Greek words meaning red skin. The infection is a type of superficial cellulitis caused by specific bacteria (streptococci). There is a marked involvement of lymphatic vessels. Erysipelas may develop in skin injured by scratches, abrasions, or other wounds, and in apparently normal skin by the seeding of bacteria usually from the nose or upper respiratory tract. Most often the onset is sudden with chills, fever, headache, occasional nausea and vomiting, rapid pulse, and a typical local skin inflammation usually on the face (especially nose and cheeks). However, erysipelas may appear on other parts of the body usually when related to wound injury. The affected skin area is painful, red, hot, and swollen. Unlike cellulitis, the lesion has a sharply defined elevated advancing border. The surface of the patch is at first smooth and shiny and later becomes covered with small blisters.
Treatment
Prompt treatment of erysipelas is necessary because the disease can lead to serious complications as abscesses, even death.
Initially for the infection, 500 mg penicillin V potassium should be given by mouth on an empty stomach, followed by 250 mg also by mouth every six hours for ten days. If the patient is allergic to penicillin, erythromycin 500 mg can be given by mouth every six hours for four days, followed by 250 mg every six hours for six more days.
Local treatment of the inflamed area consists of continuous warm soaks of saline solution (two level teaspoonfuls of table salt to 1000 ml of water) applied for 20 minutes at a time to the involved area every three to four hours.[1]
Additional information from other sources:
Aspirin may be administered for pain.[2] The antibiotic should be continued for at least two days after all signs of infection are gone. [3]
Alternative treatment options:
Buckwheat (leaf infusion)[4]
Cow parsnip (root infusion)[5]
Elderberry[6]
Isatis (leaves)[7]
Forsythia suspensa (dried fruit)[8]
Links to related posts:
[1] The Ship’s Medicine Chest and Medical Aid at Sea, 1978, 237-38.
[2] David Werner, Where There Is No Doctor, 1992, 212.
[3] David Werner, Where There Is No Doctor, 1992, 212.
[4] Steven Foster, et al., Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs, 2002, 85.
[5] Steven Foster, et al., Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs, 2002, 68.
[6] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antivirals, 2013, 164.
[7] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antivirals, 2013, 205.
[8] Stephen Harrod Buhner, Herbal Antivirals, 2013, 245.
19 september 2023
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