Hey dr. P.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

Medical question for you.
How quick would you find pus in a wound?

context: character is running through town barefoot, slices his foot open on a rock while running through a garden. So obviously the wound is dirty and goign to get infected if not cleaned. But how quickly?

Would there be a lot of pus in there even after a few minutes?

[Oldie Black Witch]

Not after a few minutes, but very likely after several hours. I'd give it at least six hours if it is truly infected. Twelve would be safe.

[Mr_Pleasington]

Old One is on the right track.

Pus is nothing more than an accumulation of white blood cells and inflammatory mediators that the body sends to the site of an infection.  The infection actually has to settle in and get working before this can occur.   Plus, unless the wound in at least partially healed (or scabbed ) over then the puss will just leak out slowly and constantly and will look relatively clear...and thus unnoticed.

So you need:
A wound that gets infected
The infection to get working (Pretty Quick)
The body to mount an immune response (16-24 hours to show up, probably longer to really announce itself by heat, tenderness, redness, and swelling).

And the wound has to have been tightly covered or healed for the material that form pus to accumulate.

Hope that helps.

[Mr_Pleasington]

Yeah, I just realized that I didn't answer the question.

Probably 36 - 50 hours after getting the wound.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

what about blisters? they can get fluid buildup pretty quickly...

that doesn't relate to the cut foot thing though

[Mr_Pleasington]

Blisters can happen much faster as the fluid there isn't the result of an immune response.

Also, if you need the character to notice the infection earlier a person can usually tell within 10-12 hours after the wound by

1) more pain than would be expected
2) growing redness
3) swelling around the wound

Since the wound is fresh, the tenderness probably won't be noted.

Depending on how sharp the character is, she may notice that the skin around the wound feels warmer than would be expected.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I think I'm going to jsut cut out the reference in the first chapter. Oh well. No pus till later. Thanks Dr. P. You da man.