Sores that become puss filled, ooze & then scab up-- HELP!?

Question

Sometime late winter early spring my friends son started breaking out with patches of blisters, that started off looking like mosquito bites but with a day or so would turn into what look like water blisters, the area surrounding these spots swells and turns red and look incredibly painful. It lasts for about a week and then the blisters break open and ooze a clear liquid for approximately 3 days and then scab over. The first two times we were told they were bug bites. 3rd and 4th time we were so concerned we took him to the ER for it and the Dr's told us it was warts, or really bad eczema. Well about a month ago it happened for the 5th or 6th time, took him in, and for the first time the Dr. took a culture of the blister's (hmm... imagine that). We had to wait a week and a half for the results but when we finally got them all it said was it was some kind of bacteria and they wrote us an RX for it. But by the time we got the RX he was all cleared up. Anyhow, he's been on the RX for 2 weeks and last Friday we just got a 2nd bottle of the stuff. But really if it was being caused by this bacteria then 2 weeks is a sufficient amount of time to kill it.

Well yesterday they were back in Charleston visiting friends and were getting ready to leave and had to wake Asher up-- his foot was probably 2.5 times it's normal size, rock hard and had the beginnings of these blister things forming on his foot and left leg. So they took Asher to the ER-again. The Dr. there was convinced it was a burn.... still no answer, because I'm sorry, but it's NOT a burn!

But that's not al that's been going on with him. For the same amount of time that these blister things have been coming and going he has a HORRID diaper rash that comes and goes, it either precedes or follows these blisters and it is truly awful looking, but they have no explanation for that either because nothing has changed, no new food, no new detergent, no new shampoo...

Also, his wet diapers are getting SLOWLY but progressively darker in color, BUT because there were so many concerns surrounding his kidneys when my friends was pregnant and immediately following his birth.... my friend keeps mentioning this to the Dr's but they have ignored her. Finally last Friday they got the Dr to agree to do the blood work and urinalysis to check his kidneys. (she think it's all somehow related)

Also, for the last two weeks he's been incredibly fussy. To the point where last week she literally was concerned she was about to go crazy, he screamed, no joke about 80% of his waking time.

Other little things... No appetite, but can't seem to quench his thirst, and some other little things I can't think of...

She just wants some sort of concrete answer, but doesn’t really think they know what is going on with him, so they're throwing out some ridiculous ideas. These things aren't warts, blisters or a burn!

Answer 1

Have you checked out hidradenitis suppurativa? It has puss filled recurring bumps.

http://www.hs-usa.org/hidradenitis_suppu...

Pics (if you have low tolerance for medical photos don't look)

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=h...

http://images.google.com/images?num=20&h...

Answer 2

She needs to take him to a specialist in skin care.

Answer 3

How old is he and is does his mom give him any laxatives, or senna-containing health foods?

Senna-containing laxatives can cause blisters and diaper rash.

If the blisters are a reaction to a laxative, then he could also have a secondary infection due to the bacteria that all of us carry on our skin: staphylococcus infections can cause pus-filled blisters that heal by scabbing over, and streptococcal infections can cause the swelling and hardness of the leg that you described. He could be a carrier of community-acquired MRSA; kids usually carry these bacteria in their nose and a swab and culture will confirm whether he has this infection or not.

The dark urine could be due to a kidney problem that can occur as a reaction to the above infections: it's called post-infectious or post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis. I'm glad he's getting his urine and blood work done: that should give you an answer.

(Dark urine may also be caused by a congenital condition called alkaptonuria in which children's diapers turn dark, as is urine left standing in a container. However, this should have manifested from birth.)

I'm pasting an article I found on the net: ask your friend to show it to her doctor. Meanwhile, if she's giving him a laxative, ask her to stop it and see whether the blisters re-appear. And keep in regular contact with her doctor: nothing like the man on the spot to make the diagnosis.