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Author Staph infection is also known as staphylococcal infection. It is a common problem that can happen to anyone at anytime of the day. It is caused by bacteria that stays inside the body once it enters through an open wound. This type of infection may start once a person touches something that is contaminated by the bacteria. It can also transfer from one person to the other through clothes, towels and bedding to name a few, that is why sharing personal things from someone else is not advisable because you don’t know if that person is infected by staph bacterium. They may be carrying a staph infection inside their body that may affect you.
Staph infection may come out in various forms depending on the place of the contamination. A staph infection may be in the form of a boil, whiteheads, burn, and others depending on what part of the body it may appear. If you happen to find staph infection anywhere on your body what you can do is take a warm bath and mix the water with some salt. After you dry up, you can apply an antibiotic cream on the affected area. You will see that in 2-3 days’ time, the affected part will dry up and will heal as well. Anyone can be affected by a staph infection. Did you know that even a nursing mom can be badly affected by the staphylococcal infection and it is often known as mastitis.
In this infection, the nipple of a woman may crack and it can be life threatening if not properly treated. There are more serious infections in women that are also linked to staph infection and it is known as Toxic Shock syndrome and this infection is related to women who use tampons during their period. One of the best things to do to be able to prevent staph infection from ruining your life is to keep your hands clean and always observe good personal hygiene. You should always wash your hands after going to the toilet and take a shower everyday. If you have wounds and open cuts, you need to make sure that you wash and clean them with water and apply antibiotic creams and cover them if needed so that they won’t be infected by bacteria that may make the wound severe.
Staphylococcus or staph is known as group of bacteria that causes various types of ailments. It came from a Greek word that simply means bunch of grapes. Staph infection can be categorized from mild to severe. When you look at the staph bacteria in a microscope, you will see that it looks like a bunch of grapes or berries. Did you know that there are more than 30 types of staphylococci that can affect humans? Usually, staph infections occur in the nose and skin of healthy individuals. Usually the bacteria, when it enters the body, doesn’t cause ailments and damage on the person because of the protective mechanisms in the body but once those protective mechanisms become low, the person may suffer from infection.
If you ask who is at risk of having staph infections, anyone can be at risk and there are no certain group of people who are at greater risk because anyone who has weaker immunity will suffer from staph infections. You have to be careful especially with people you are mingling with because direct contact to a person with staph infections on open wounds will also affect you if you have wounds or cuts as well. Staph infections can be hard to detect unless you see some pus, boils or abscess pimples on the skin.
The best thing to do is consult your doctor if you’re unsure whether you’ve contracted a staph infection.
Posted in Staph Infection | 
Tags: mrsa staph infection, staph infection, staph infection prevention, staph infection symptoms | 
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The Staphylococcus bacterium is what causes staph infection. It is said that as much as 25% of the human population carry this bacteria either in their mouth, around the anus, the nose or even in the genitals. People, especially those who like moving around bare foot, can also pick it from the ground with their feet. For this bacteria to cause an infection, most of times it starts with a little cut or a prick that acts as the bacteria’s entrance to the body system. The degree of a staph infection varies from one person to another. For those who have weakened immunity, the infection can be severe, with some reported cases where the infected area seems as if something is gobbling pieces of flesh from it. Other infections may manifest themselves as small boils that can sometimes be itchy. In other cases, cellutis may occur which means that the staph infection has affected the inner layers of the skin.
As for staph cellulitis, it may start as redness, swelling and tenderness of just a small area on any part of the skin. In other cases, it may start with an open sore and sometimes, there may be no any kind of skin break at all. Staph cellulitis may be accompanied by a feeling of warmth on the affected area. The spreading of a staph infection may bring other symptoms like chills and fever while the infected area continues to swell. However, the combinations of these symptoms vary from one person to another.
Initially, a staph infected person could easily be treated with penicillin. However, the misuse of antibiotics brought about the existence of superbugs. More powerful antibiotics were therefore introduced to combat the infection. In fact, in North America, staph infection is harder to treat because most people misuse antibiotics there. It is therefore advisable for people to take their medication in the right dosage and fully, to avoid making a staph infection untreatable. Nowadays doctors use very powerful antibiotics to treat this infection although in some cases, the bacteria can be hard to eliminate.
One way of ensuring that you have avoided this kind of a bacterial infection is to maintain high standards of cleanliness, especially if you have an open cut. Immediately you have a cut, you should wash it with clean water specifically with an antiseptic soap. This should be followed by thorough drying of the cut area then dressing with a clean piece of cloth, in particular, a bandage. However, application of an antiseptic ointment should precede this. Staph infections are contagious especially when the wound is draining or weeping. This is more so the case when people are sharing things likes towels with someone who has an infection. There have been some reported cases where even athletes have picked the infection from one of their team members in the dressing room. In such cases, proper cleaning of feet is required especially when people are frequently visiting areas that are used by many people.
Remember, a staph infection is non-discriminatory. It does not matter whether you have a healthy immune system or not. Most bacteria strains are known to wait for the right conditions to attack. The fact that the Staphylococcus bacterium can stay in the human mouth for a long time is one thing that should make us stay clean and avoid bites as much as we can. A staph infection can easily defy the immune systems even from relatively healthy patients with severe cases resulting to death. Parents with small children are advised to ensure that their kids wear the right protective gear to prevent cuts especially when they are out playing since a staph infection can affect them in a more severe way than an adult.
Posted in Staph Infection | Tags: mrsa staph infection, staph infection, staph infection causes, staph infection prevention | 3 Comments »
What is the Staph Infection
Ever heard of the Staphylococcus bacteria? The bacteria, usually called the Staph bacteria, are actually harmless, but if it enters a wound, it can cause an infection. It lives around the nose, mouth, genitals and the anus. These bacteria can cause the Staph Infection, an infection on the skin.
More than thirty species of the staph bacteria are living, and they can cause many different kinds of illnesses. The Staphylococcus aureus are the probable cause of urinary tract infections. Other skin infections it can cause are folliculitis, impetigo, cellulitis and boils. The bacteria also releases toxins which can lead to food poisoning or toxic shock syndrome. Food poisoning happens when a person eats Staph infected foods. It resolves on its own and the people who are food poisoned are generally safe as the bacteria are not transmitted. The toxic shock syndrome, meanwhile, is caused by toxins secreted by the Staph bacteria growing where oxygen is not present. People with the syndrome will suddenly have high fevers, diarrhea, vomiting, muscle aches and low blood pressure, which can lead to both shock and death.
Getting the infection
Staph Infections are minor skin infections. People can get the infection from contaminated objects, usually by skin contact. The Staph can spread around the body if someone touches the infected area then touches an uninfected area. Staph Infections can easily spread from person to person, usually in dormitories because of the close contact of the students. Sharing of any type of clothing and toiletries helps spread the bacteria, and warm environments make it easier to have the Staph Infection. Excessive sweating also increases a person’s chance of having the infection. Direct contact with the infected area is the only way one could be infected with the Staph.
Who are more susceptible?
Anyone can have the Staph Infection, but newborn babies, breastfeeding women and people with chronic states and lung diseases are more susceptible to the infection. Other people who can easily have the infection are drug users, those with skin problems and those who have weak immune systems.
Symptoms
You will know that you have the bacteria when a wound turns red, swells and is painful. Pus will also develop. When the Staph Infection gets to your blood, it will cause chills, low blood pressure and high fevers. When this happens, serious infections might occur. A condition called the staphylococcal sepsis will occur when the infection spreads in your blood. It can affect people with lung diseases easily. This may lead to the formation of pus on the lungs and be the cause of death. Infection of the heart valves can lead to heart failure, while its spread to the bone may cause severe inflammation of the bones, most commonly known the asosteomyelitis.
Basic care
The best way to not contract the Staph Infection is by having good hygiene practises. This is the best way to protect yourself from any kind of bacteria and virus. Frequent hand washing is a solution to your woes of having the infection. Also, taking a bath daily is a must.
Keep areas of skin that have been injured (such as cuts, scrapes, eczema, and rashes caused by allergic reactions or poison ivy) clean and covered. Use any antibiotic ointments or other treatments that your doctor suggests. If someone in your family has a staph infection, don’t share towels, sheets, or clothing until the infection has been fully treated. If there is an infection already, the best way to stop the Staph Infection from spreading is by being careful not to touch it and keep it covered.
I get email from different people nearly every day with questions, comments and stories of their individual MRSA experiences, and have since beginning MRSA Resources nearly 3 years ago. This is a story I received a couple of weeks ago: Christina, Iâ??m a 37 year old male, I have a wife and two boys, 15 [...]
How do you get rid of dark spots on the skin left from infected ingrown hair? … or is it just broken skin caused by irritation of the blade after shaving? – Evangéline BeaupréThis happened to me after I shave my pubic hair. I started using “bliss ingrown hair eliminating peeling pads” and they worked [...]
The rapidly escalating human suffering and loss of life from MRSA in the United States and in other countries needs to be recognized and an immediate international response for prevention, awareness and education is imperative. – MRSA Survivors Network, Jeanine Thomas World MRSA Day takes place this Saturday, October 1. The third annual world MRSA [...]
If you have Staph or MRSA, can eating fruit make your infection grow worse? The MRSA fruit question is a common one for people who want to eat more immune-boosting foods as part of their Staph or MRSA treatment program. Many fruits contain sugar, and the Staph-sugar or MRSA-sugar connection is a big factor in [...]
Source: http://www.staph-infection-resources.com/staph-mrsa-treatment/mrsa-fruit-connection/
MRSAidTM would like to congratulate Dr. Cale Street on being profiled on CEO Clips where he discusses the severity of Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) and future plans for MRSAidTM. Dr. Street touches upon the seriousness of superbugs that are becoming resistant to antibiotics and subsequently resulting in difficult to treat HAIs. MRSAidTM is currently being used [...]
Source: http://www.mrsaidblog.com/2011/07/dr-cale-street-profiled-on-national-tv-via-ceo-clips/
Sadly, the catalyst for letting this MRSA problem out of the closet was the death of a Staunton River High School (VA) student, Ashton Bonds. My heart goes out to Ashton’s family. Share This
Source: http://www.mrsanotes.com/the-spark-that-unleashed-the-mrsa-fire/
Loretta shared with me this fantastic new sign at Community. 
Notice there’s a large section of the bottom that’s blank. That’s for staff, nurses, and providers to sign their names signifying their commitments.
-We commit that every time
we enter or exit a patient room
or treatment area, we will wash
our hands.
-We will hold one another
accountable for performing
hand hygiene.
-We will respond graciously by
saying ?thank you? when we?re
reminded to wash our hands.
Source: http://fightmrsa.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-hand-washing-sign-for-community.html
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released guidance for programs to optimize the thoroughness of cleaning of high-touch surfaces. The guidance recommends a two-level program administered by infection preventionists and coordinated and maintained through environmental services professionals.
The document, ?Options for Evaluating Environmental Cleaning,? was prepared by Alice Guh, MD, MPH, of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion in the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases at the CDC, and Philip Carling, MD, of Carney Hospital and Boston University School of Medicine in Boston. Assistance in document preparation was provided by Brian Koll of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York; Marion Kainer and Ellen Borchers from the Tennessee Department of Health in Nashville, Tenn.; and Brandi Jordan of the Illinois Department of Public Health in Chicago.
The document notes, ?In view of the evidence that transmission of many healthcare-acquired pathogens (HAPs) is related to contamination of near-patient surfaces and equipment, all hospitals are encouraged to develop programs to optimize the thoroughness of high-touch surface cleaning as part of terminal room cleaning at the time of discharge or transfer of patients. Since dedicated resources to implement objective monitoring programs may need to be developed, hospitals can initially implement a basic or Level I program, the elements of which are outlined below. Some hospitals should consider implementing the advanced or Level II program from the start, particularly those with increased rates of infection caused by healthcare acquired pathogens (e.g., high Clostridium difficile infection rate). All hospitals that have successfully achieved a Level I program should advance to Level II.?
The document continues, ?At present, the objective monitoring of the cleaning process of certain high touch surfaces (e.g., the curtain that separates patient beds) beyond those outlined in the attached checklist is not well defined. Additionally, there is no standard method for measuring actual cleanliness of surfaces or the achievement of certain cleaning parameters (e.g., adequate contact time of disinfectant) or for defining the level of microbial contamination that correlates with good or poor environmental hygienic practices. As our understanding of these issues evolve and a standardization of assessment in these respective areas can be developed and practically implemented, hospitals that have obtained a high compliance rate with surface cleaning as outlined in the Level II program are encouraged to advance their efforts in optimizing environmental hygienic practices.?
Link to Environmental Cleaning Guidelines
Source: http://fightmrsa.blogspot.com/2010/12/cdc-offers-guidance-on-evaluation-of.html
MRSA is a contagious bacterial infection that is frequently featured in the news. Although news sources get most of the basic MRSA facts right, sometimes there are misconceptions that arise about MRSA. This text will discuss the facts about MRSA and dispel a few myths and popular misconceptions about MRSA infections. MRSA, a [...]
Source: http://www.mrsaskininfection.org/blog/2011/07/08/facts-about-mrsa/