boils

are boils contagiouse?????

[littleOneNY]

yes. I only know because a friends 5 year old child had it then her 16 month old daughter caught it from the brother.. very imporant to bleach the bath properly!! Hope it gets better!!

[chubabe]

i am not sure..hum

[itsy1]

Yes!  I've had experience with both an adult having them and a child.  Generaly they are caused by soem type of staph or strep infection.  Anything the boil comes in contact with can spread the infection and if the person with the boil has any other scratches, open skin wounds they can fester easily as well.

If the boil doesn't clear up in a few days or if you start feelig like you have the flu and runing a fever please see a doc.  They have antibiotics for them and the doc can tell you how to better take care of them and stop their spread.  There are also cases where a antibiotic resistant type of staph (MRSA) can  be the cause of them and in those cases sometimes hospitilization is required.  I tell you that, not to scare you, but so you will know how serious this type of skin infection can be.

I hope you're feeling better soon.