Sue Murphy describes the difficulty in recognising a rare condition which can lead to false accusations of child abuse

This is a case study of a young child who was brought to the A&E department by her mother. Following this child’s attendance, and discussion with other colleagues, the article is the result of research into the phenomena referred to as staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome (SSSS). For reasons of confidentiality, the name of the patient has been changed, but the clinical details are unchanged.