Simple steps to stop skin infections
Wash and dry your hands throughout the day to stop germs spreading.
Wash your face and body every day to wash away germs.
Cut and clean under your finger nails to stop germs living under your nails.
Stop insect bites and skin injuries because bites and injuries get infected.
Every day clean and cover insect bites, cuts and sores to wash away germs and stop them spreading.
Find and fix infections
Every day check sores and cuts for signs of infection - are they red, warm, sore?
See a nurse or doctor if the infection is bigger than a 10 cent coin, or you are worried.
If you get medicine or cream, use it as instructed to kill germs in the body after the skin has healed.
Check some resources you can print in English, te reo Māori, Samoan and Tongan.
Acknowledgements
The content on this page is based on the Stop skin infections poster (PDF, 2.09MB), developed by the Northern Region Skin Prevention Group with support from Health Literacy NZ, KidsHealth, Procare Charitable Foundation and Starship Foundation.
