Who would have thought it? A cuddly toy in the shape of a virus! These cuddly characters are incredibly endearing and educational too. Each one comes with a detailed scientific description and photograph of what he looks like under the microscope, along with medical tips on how to avoid picking up these bugs in daily life. Children seem to be totally fascinated by them, and it really helps when explaining all about why they are feeling poorly. The perfect gift to accompany a Get Well card. Also a brilliant present for medical students, doctors and nurses etc. You will soon understand why they are becoming amazingly popular! Start collecting now. Facts: While adults sometimes have acne, nearly 100% of the population suffers breakouts at some point in their teenage years. Like the food in some school cafeterias, it's just an unpleasant part of growing up! Propionibacterium acnes is the skin bacteria significantly responsible for the condition. The increased production of testosterone during puberty (which occurs in both boys and girls) causes the sabaceous glands to increase production of oily sebum. Normally, the oil just seeps out, keeping the skin lubricated and helping to remove dead skin cells. But when the flow increases, pores get clogged. Since P.acnes loves sebum, it multiplies rapidly in skin pores, causing redness and swelling and a variety of lesions ranging from: Open comedones (blackheads) Closed comecones (whiteheads) Papules (solid bumps) Pustules (bumps containing pus) Macules (flat red splotches) Nodules (deeper and inflamed papules) Cysts (angry, deep-layer lesions that can cause scarring). What can you do about acne? Creams with benxoyl peroxide can help in many cases. But if Pacnes won't take the hint, don't fool around, see a dermatologist.