Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Skin Infections
Your skin is your body's largest organ. It has many different functions, including covering and protecting your body. It helps keep germs out. But sometimes the germs can cause a skin infection. It often happens when the germs enter your body through a break, cut, or wound on your skin. Other skin infections can happen in places where the skin rubs together, especially if the area is moist. Infections can also happen when you have a poor blood supply to an area of your body or if your immune system is weakened because of another disease or a medical treatment.
Some skin infections cover a small area on the top of your skin. Other infections can go deep into your skin or spread to a larger area.
Skin infections are caused by different kinds of germs. For example,:
- Bacteria cause cellulitis, impetigo, and staphylococcal (staph) infections
- Viruses cause shingles, warts, and herpes simplex
- Fungi cause athlete's foot and yeast infections
- Parasites cause body lice, head lice, and scabies
You are more likely to get a skin infection if you:
- Have poor circulation
- Have diabetes
- Are older
- Have an immune system disease, such as HIV
- Have a weakened immune system because of chemotherapy or other medicines that suppress your immune system
- Have to stay in one position for a long time, such as if you are sick and have to stay in bed for a long time or you are paralyzed
- Are malnourished
- Have excessive skinfolds, which can happen if you have obesity
The symptoms depend on the type of infection. Some symptoms that are common to many skin infections include rashes, swelling, redness, pain, pus, and itching.
To diagnose a skin infection, your health care provider will do a physical exam and ask about your symptoms. You may have lab tests, such as a skin culture. This is a test to identify what type of infection you have, using a sample from your skin. Your provider may take the sample by swabbing or scraping your skin or removing a small piece of skin (biopsy). Sometimes providers use other tests, such as blood tests.
The treatment depends on the type of infection and how serious it is. Some infections will go away on their own. When you do need treatment, it may include a cream or lotion to put on the skin. Other possible treatments include medicines and a procedure to drain pus.
It sits within Infections and Skin, Hair and Nails.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Skin Infections
2,780 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Study of AU-007, A Monoclonal Antibody That Binds to IL-2 and Inhibits IL-2Rα Binding, in Patients With Unresectable Locally Advanced or Metastatic CancerAulos Bioscience, Inc.
- The Cancer Connected Access and Remote Expertise Beyond Walls Program to Provide In-Home Cancer Treatment and Improve Treatment Satisfaction in Cancer Patients Living in the Florida Panhandle and Surrounding AreasMayo Clinic
- Naive T Cell Depletion for Preventing Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease in Children and Young Adults With Blood Cancers Undergoing Donor Stem Cell TransplantFred Hutchinson Cancer Center
- Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole vs. Clindamycin for the Treatment of Children With Invasive MRSA InfectionsIndiana University
- Finasteride and CutibacteriumUniversity of Washington
- Genetic Studies of Chronic Active Epstein-Barr DiseaseNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Research already completed
- Randomised Clinical Trial in Treatment Modalities for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Caused by Leishmania Tropica, in PakistanMedecins Sans Frontieres, Netherlands
- A Pilot of Pediatric/Adult Study of Gene Expression Profiling and Clinical Characterization of PhototoxicityNational Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
- Trichoscopic Predictors of Treatment Response in Tinea Capitis: A Prospective StudyIstanbul Medeniyet University
- Searching for Persistence of Infection in Lyme DiseaseNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
- Tattooing and Piercing Among Medical StudentsBiruni University
- Aviclear for Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS)University of Miami
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- Overview of Fungal Skin InfectionsMerck & Co., Inc.
Diagnosis and Tests
- Rash EvaluationNational Library of Medicine
- Skin BiopsyNational Library of Medicine
- Skin Rashes and Other Skin ProblemsAmerican Academy of Family Physicians
- Wood's Lamp ExaminationVisualDX
Related Issues
- Diabetes and Skin ComplicationsAmerican Diabetes Association
- Preventing Molluscum Contagiosum in Schools, Daycares, and PoolsCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Skin Diseases, InfectiousNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Skin Diseases, Infectious. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Skin Infections, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.