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· 22 Nov 2021

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What is Staph Infection?

#staphinfections
A staph infection is primarily caused by staphylococcus bacteria. About 25% of people normally carry staph in their nose, mouth, genitals, or anal areas and don’t have symptoms of infections. Staphylococcus is a type of bacteria that can cause different infections on and in your body. Staph is a common bacterium, and actually, 3 in every 10 people have it. Staphylococcus is the leading cause of skin infections but rarely causes diseases. But when the disease develops, and the infection is left untreated, the body can be severely affected. There are over 30 sub-species of staphylococcus bacteria. The most common bacteria that causes illness is staphylococcus aureus.


The infection begins with a minor cut which gets infected with bacteria. It starts by looking like a honey yellow crusting on the skin. These staph infections can range from a simple boil to antibiotic-resistant bacteria to flesh-eating infections. The difference between all these infections is how strong the infection can be, how deep it affects the body, how fast it spreads with antibiotics. The antibiotics resistant antibiotics are more common in North America because of the overuse of antibiotics. One of the most common staph infections that involve skin is cellulitis. It affects the deep layers of the skin and is 100% treatable with antibiotics.


What Are the Symptoms of Staff Infection?

Staph infections can range from simple skin infections to endocarditis (an infection of the inner lining of your heart). The symptoms vary depending on the areas affected and the severity of the infections. Staph infections cause the following diseases:


1. Skin infections include:

Boils. This is the most common staph infection. It starts when bacteria affects the hair follicles or oil glands, creating pockets of pus. As a result, the affected part of the skin becomes red and swollen, causing pain. If the boil bursts, the pus is drained. People mostly found boils in areas like the armpits, buttocks, and groin.

Impetigo. This is a highly contagious staph infection. It appears like a rash and causes pain. It is characterized by large blisters that may contain fluid that can ooze from time to time. On looking at them, they’ll appear yellow with a honey-like crust.

Cellulitis. This affects the deepest layers of the skin. It mostly affects the lower limbs, causing skin reddening, sores, oozing of fluids, and pain.

Staphylococcus scalded skin syndrome. When bacteria invade the skin, they feed on flesh, and in return, they release toxins. These toxins can cause more harm and therefore cause this infection. Staphylococcus scalded skin syndrome mostly affects young babies and children, causing fever, rash, and sometimes blisters. When these blisters break open, they leave a mark behind that resembles burns.

2. Food poisoning.

Staphylococcus bacteria is one of the most common causes of food poisoning. The bacteria invade the food that is not well kept or prepared using clean procedures. Also, storing food in unclean places can lead to contamination, which then affects people. When people eat contaminated food, the bacteria quickly starts causing symptoms within a few hours. These symptoms can disappear on their own or continue getting worse, depending on the severity. A staph infection in food never causes fever, but can show symptoms like:
•    Nausea and vomiting.
•    Diarrhea.
•    Dehydration results from losing so much water through diarrhea and vomiting.
•    Low blood pressure happens when you excrete so much sodium through fluids.


3. Bacteremia.

We also know this as a bloodstream infection. It happens when the staphylococcus bacteria invade the bloodstream. High fever and low blood pressure characterize bacteremia. Once the bacteria get access to your bloodstream, they can travel to the deepest tissues, causing harm. The bacteria multiply quickly and affect major internal organs like lungs, bones, and muscles, artificial devices in the body like artificial joints, and cardiac pacemakers.


4. Toxic shock syndrome (TSS).

This is a life-threatening condition. It results from bacterial toxins and has been highly linked to certain types of tampons, skin wounds, and surgery. TSS develops quickly and shows symptoms like high fever, nausea, and vomiting, confusion, muscle aches, diarrhea, stomach pain, and rashes on your palms and soles that look like a sunburn.

5. Septic arthritis.

This condition is also caused by staph infections. The bacteria often target the knees, shoulders, hips, and fingers or toes. It primarily affects anywhere in the body that has joints. It can show signs like fever, swelling of the joints, and severe pain.


How Can You Prevent Staph Infections?

Staphylococcus bacteria are everywhere on the skin. There is no way you can avoid coming into contact with them completely. What you can do is reduce the risk of developing an infection. There are simple preventative measures that you can adopt to help you reduce this risk. Consider the following tips:

Stay clean. Washing your body and hands is one way of preventing staph infections. Wash your hands more frequently and shower at least daily. You can either use soap to do handwashing or use sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.

Cleaning of wounds. Wounds are a very good harbor for bacteria. When a wound is not well kept, bacteria can easily grow and multiply, spreading to other parts of the body. Clean cuts, scrapes, and other injuries thoroughly with running water to rinse out dirt and bacteria.

Cover the wounds. If you have wounds, it’s highly advisable to cover them with a clean cloth. Change the dressing a few times a day and also use the antibiotic ointments to kill the bacteria around the wound.
Avoid sharing personal items. We can spread staph infections through towels, sheets, athletic equipment, or wearing the clothes of someone with this infection. The best way is to avoid sharing these items, even if you’re sure someone is not sick. Cleaning the items often can also reduce the chances of you developing infections.

Change tampons frequently. Changing tampons at least every four hours can put you in a safe space when it comes to staph infections. Changing tampons can prevent you from developing toxic shock syndrome. Also, keeping the used tampons for long can create a suitable environment for bacterial growth. The best way is to dispose of it immediately after use.

Be careful with food. Before you prepare the food, make sure your hands are clean. Also, clean the vegetables and fruits, and make the preparing environment properly clean. Make sure that you serve and eat hot foods while still hot because cooling the food down allows bacteria to grow. Also, for the cold foods, keep them cold as this helps them remain fresh for long. If the food smells or tastes unusual, don’t consume it but discard it because it could be contaminated.

Use clean razors when shaving. If you have a staph infection, don’t use shaving machines and razors for some time until the infection clears. If it’s a must for you to shave, choose a disposable razor that you can later throw away. Also, sharing shaving machines and the razor is never a good idea.


Conclusion.

A strain of bacteria called staphylococcus aureus causes staph infection. We find these bacteria on the skin, nose, mouth, anus, and groin regions. In most cases, staff bacteria rarely cause infections and can live normally on the skin. But when the skin is cut or scraped, the bacteria get away and penetrate deep into the skin, causing serious harm. Staph infections are 100% treatable when detected on time. Taking some antibiotics and some home remedies can help treat the infection and stop it from spreading. Sharing some personal items like shaving razors, blades, clothing, and sports equipment can give you staph infection. The best way to prevent it is to avoid sharing these things.