Football impetigo : an enquiry into a contagious affection of the skin occurring amongst football players : a paper read before the Association on 10th December, 1895 / by H.G. Armstrong.

  • Armstrong, Henry George.
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Football impetigo : an enquiry into a contagious affection of the skin occurring amongst football players : a paper read before the Association on 10th December, 1895 / by H.G. Armstrong. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Name.—I propose to call it “ Football Impetigo.” It is, I believe, a true impetigo, and in giving the prefix Foot- ball,” I do so in the same way as we name diseases specially prevalent amongst certain trades and occupations, such as ‘^bakers’ eczema,” miners’phthisis,” or ^‘chimney sweeps’ cancer.” It is known to the Wellington boys as scrum- pox,” which is, I think, an excellent synonym. At other schools it is variously called, mud fever,” jersey itch,” “ college leprosy.” All these names are undesirable, as they involve a theory which is incorrect. Description.—After a short period of itching, a slight erythematous spot appears on the skin, on which a vesicle, varying in size from a split pea to a small horse-bean, quickly forms. The vesicle at first contains clear straw- coloured fluid, which becomes opaque as it reaches maturity. It then bursts and dries with a brown crust, generally flat, but more rarely with the heaped up crusts of ordinary impetigo. The disease spreads by the occurrence of fi’esh crops of vesicles, the result of auto-infection.” In some cases a vesicular or pustular margin, surrounded by a red areola, forms round the scab. As the vesicle extends, the t^cab sometimes falls off, leaving a comparatively healthy, smooth surface in the centre. This variety, which is similar to the Impetigo Bullosa of Crocker, is. well illustrated in the photograph. The vesicles have no special distribu- tion. Their most common site is on the face over the malar bones, and over the lower jaw, but I have frequently seen them on and behind the ears, and by secondary infection on the fingers. In some instances it attacks the scalp, but considering the number of cases, these are com- paratively few. The lymphatic glands are always affected, sometimes by simple enlargement; in others there is a tendency to suppurative dermatitis, and there is often a tendency to the formation of furuncles, which lasts for some time after the disappearance of the original disease. Bacteriology.—Material was taken from six cases, with which cultivations were made and were forwarded to the Clinical Eesearch Association for investigation. This was