Answering The Question: Is Cellulitis Contagious?
Is cellulitis contagious? The short answer is no. Another answer is, if someone you come in contact with has cellulitis, you could get it also. The second answer seems to contradict the first, yet both are true. It's a little like the old saying; "The following statement is true." "The preceding statement is false".
So which is it? Technically, cellulitis is not contagious because the bacteria responsible for the infection are trapped beneath the outer surface of the skin, and cannot spread. Cellulitis is an infection affecting the deeper layers of the skin, the dermis and subcutaneous layers, while the outer layer, the epidermis, acts as a covering shield. Cellulitis usually manifests itself as a reddening and tenderness of the skin, at times accompanied by swelling. Chills and a fever may also be present, as can swollen glands and lymph nodes. Cellulitis can be local, or can spread over a large area, becoming quite a serious condition, and even life threatening.
Misdiagnoses And Misconceptions - Perhaps one of the reasons some believe cellulitis is contagious is that other skin diseases can show similar symptoms the most common being redness, tenderness, and swelling. One of these, impetigo, is an infection on the outer surface of the skin, and is indeed contagious.
Another misconception is that cellulitis is spread by animals, since it in many cases results from an animal bite. The animal, be it a dog, a bat, or a mosquito, isn't a cellulitis carrier. It's simply that the open wound caused by the bite is vulnerable to any bacteria which may be present, and the bacteria present could be of the type that could cause an outbreak of cellulitis.
Let's revisit the second statement, "if someone you come in contact with has cellulitis, you could get it also". Cellulitis is a bacterial infection, and if bacteria can move from one place to another, so can the infection. If you shake hands with someone who has cellulitis, all those bacteria are safely tucked away underneath the outer layer of that person's skin, and not a single one is going to bite you, or whatever bacteria do. However, if that person had an open wound on his hand, and it was infected, and you had an open wound or sore on your hand, the cellulitis bacteria could be transferred, and you could come down with the disease. That however is admittedly a long shot, and while bacteria may have been transferred from one person to another, it really couldn't be considered as a case of something being contagious.
Treatment - Cellulitis usually responds well to the administering of antibiotics, the preferred form of treatment. The condition first has to be correctly diagnosed of course, and there is always the chance that the bacteria involved may be resistant to a particular antibiotic. Penicillin is an alternative, though some are allergic to it. Usually however an effective antibiotic will be found. Severe cases of cellulitis may require hospitalization, and the administration of antibiotics intravenously, as antibiotics taken orally may not always be effective. The most common types of bacteria responsible for causing cellulitis are Staphylococcus and Streptococcus, but there are a number of other types of bacteria which can cause the disease, and the type usually needs to be determined to establish which antibiotics will be effective.
One More Time - If someone you know has a case of cellulitis, you don't have to avoid the person. In fact, if he or she is hospitalized, a visit would be a nice gesture. Someone undergoing the discomfort of the infection would probably prefer a little sympathy as opposed to being shunned. If, when you visit your friend in the hospital ward, you aren't covered with sores or open wounds, the chances are virtually 100% that you will walk out of there free of the disease. Is cellulitis contagious? No.