Skin infections are a common cause of admission to hospital, and serious skin infections are avoidable. Knowing how to treat skin infections early and from home is very important.

Common skin infections include:

  • Cuts, scratches and grazes
  • Impetigo
  • Boils and abscesses
  • Cellulitis
  • Infected eczema
  • Scabies

Healthy Skin in the greater Wellington region

In 2012, a healthy skin protocol was developed and endorsed by the three District Health Boards (Capital & Coast, Hutt Valley and Wairarapa) and the six Primary Health Organisations across the Wellington region.

Further information available here.

Healthy skin resources

The healthy skin tool and hand sticker have been translated into Maori and eight Pacific languages (Samoan, Cook Island, Fijia, Tongan, I-Kiribati, Tokelauan, Niuean and Tuvaluan).

Click here to view the healthy skin tool and other resources.

Further information

There is a lot of information available regarding skin infections, depending on the type of skin infection you, or someone in your family may have. It is important to seek advice from your family doctor early on to prevent the infection worsening.

Information is available by visiting the following websites.

Last updated 12 October 2022.