Penicillin in the treatment of skin sores in children.

Skin infections are a common cause of morbidity in children, particularly in tropical areas. Cultures from such lesions often grow both penicillin-resistant staphylococci and penicillin-sensitive streptococci. In a controlled trial of the treatment of septic skin lesions in 227 paediatric outpatients at Goroka Hospital, sequential analysis of the response to treatment showed that washing plus the intramuscular administration of procaine penicillin was more effective than washing plus placebo (P less than 0.05) after the 25th preference had been decided. When the amount of healing in the two groups was compared, washing plus penicillin was again more effective than washing plus placebo (P less than 0.001; Wilcoxon's rank-sum test). Because it eradicates beta-haemolytic streptococci, penicillin is a safe and effective agent for the treatment of large, multiple, or badly infected skin sores, even in countries such as Australia and Papua New Guinea in which most staphylococci are resistant to penicillin.