An abscess is a place of accumulation of the creamy white, yellow, or greenish fluid, known as pus, surrounded by reddened tissue. It is the result of the body's inflammatory response to a foreign body or a bacterial, viral, parasitic, or fungal infection. The most common parts of the body affected by abscesses are: the face, armpits, arms and legs, rectum, sebaceous glands, and the breast during lactation.