Cellulitis is most often a clinical diagnosis, and local cultures do not always identify the causative organism. Blood cultures usually are positive only if the patient develops generalized sepsis.
Conditions that may resemble cellulitis include deep vein thrombosis, which can be diagnosed with a compression leg ultrasound, and stasis dermatitis, which is inflammation of the skin from poor blood flow.
There have been many cases where Lyme disease has been misdiagnosed as staph- or strep-induced cellulitis. Because the characteristic bullseye rash does not always appear in patients infected with Lyme disease, the similar set of symptoms may be misdiagnosed as cellulitis.
Standard treatments for cellulitis are not sufficient for curing Lyme disease. The only way to rule out Lyme disease is with a blood test, which is recommended during warm months in areas where the disease is endemic.
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"Cellulitis"
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