Athlete’s foot in infants and children | Foot fungus

Athlete’s foot in infants and children

Infants and children are often particularly at risk of catching a fungal infection. This is partly due to the fact that they often have a strong urge to move, do a lot of sports and visit swimming pools more often. The symptoms are basically the same in children.

It itches, hurts, wets and is red. Parents should ensure that their children’s feet are well groomed and educate them at an early age to always dry their feet thoroughly (especially in the spaces between the toes). You should also make sure that your socks contain as few synthetic fibres as possible, as these only make your feet sweat.

Sneakers should be adequately ventilated or even disinfected after exercise.Infants and toddlers should not be wrapped up their feet too warm and always take care that they do not sweat too much. The therapy for children is basically similar to the therapy for pregnant women, but it is better to consult a doctor beforehand. Although many over-the-counter drugs are safe for children, the doctor should recommend the exact dosage and type of drug, especially for infants, even if it is over-the-counter.

Even an over-the-counter drug may not be tolerated by infants. The active substance Terbinafine is absolutely contraindicated in children. However, there are also active substances that are quite well tolerated, such as griseofulvin. In general, it is difficult, especially with small children and somewhat older children, to convince them to continue the therapy even after the clinical healing, i.e. after the symptoms have subsided. However, it is absolutely necessary to continue the therapy in children for another 2-6 weeks to prevent the symptoms from flaring up again.

Prognosis

The prognosis for athlete’s foot with therapy is usually good. Nevertheless, even about 2-3 weeks after successful therapy the treatment should be continued for a while to avoid a relapse. It is possible that there are still fungal spores in the spaces between the toes which persist for a long time after therapy and can lead to a rebirth of the disease.

Since the skin’s defense is then weakened after the initial infection by the athlete’s foot, the prognosis can worsen with a second infection. However, if the therapy is not carried out, the fungus does not regress or even spreads further. In general, the athlete’s foot is not dangerous for humans.

Nevertheless, the patient may suffer considerably from the disease or the fungus may prove to be particularly persistent. A danger, which considerably impairs the prognosis, is the occurrence of complications. This is because the athlete’s foot fungus weakens the skin’s defense system and pathogens can penetrate and worsen the prognosis.

This is often an infection with bacteria, more precisely group A streptococci, which often results in erysipelas. An erysipelas leads to high fever and hospital treatment is necessary. In addition, there is always the risk of the fungus spreading to other parts of the body or skin appendages such as nails, which worsens the prognosis.

Another point regarding the prognosis is the immune system of the patient. In the presence of HIV infection, cancer with chemotherapy, patients in intensive care or people with diabetes (the sugar disease), the immune system is severely weakened and the fungus has much better chances to spread. This worsens the prognosis and can be dangerous. Other concomitant diseases can also impair the body’s defenses and worsen the prognosis.