Staph Infection Part One (ER)
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Comment| Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 | Emily Halevy | CWK Producer |
“Always washing your hands, washing your clothes in hot water, never sharing clothes, never sharing towels, never sharing things that you would put on your body … that way you’ll prevent yourself from getting the staph infections.”
– Dr. David Goo, M.D., Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), nearly one-third of everyone in the United States has a germ called staphylococcus living on their skin. Most of the time the germ is harmless, but sometimes it can lead to an infection that calls for a trip the emergency room.
“Did you notice any sore or anything in it?” asks Dr. David Goo, M.D., Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, as he examines 14-year-old Brandon.
’Yes, I thought it was a little small bump or something.”
Brandon has a boil in his ear.
“The part of the ear canal that normally you can see [into] was basically blocked by the … pimple in the outer ear canal. And it was very tender and swollen and red,” says Dr. Goo.
The doctor says it is most likely a tough germ called MRSA -- Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus.
“We’ve been seeing a lot of kids that have staph infections come in and about 80 percent of those children have Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus,” says Dr. Goo.
“What we’re going to do is culture it to make sure [Brandon] doesn’t have that kind. But we’re going to treat him like he has that because we’ve seen so many kids with it, we just want to be sure to give him the right medicines,” says Dr. Goo to Brandon’s family.
First, Dr. Goo drains the boil; even with a topical anesthetic it hurts.
Next, the doctor flushes the wound with water to clean out the infection. Tonight, at home, Brandon will start taking an antibiotic that’s effective against MRSA.
“He’ll take that three times a day for the next 10 days,” says Dr. Goo.
Dr. Goo explains that people who have one staph infection will often have another.
“That’s called colonization. That means that the staph is living on your skin all the time and just waiting until something gets inflamed, or you get bitten by a mosquito and you scratch it, and then [the germ] can enter into the skin and cause an infection,” says Dr. Goo.
The best prevention, he says is good hygiene.
“Always washing your hands, washing your clothes in hot water, never sharing clothes, never sharing towels, never sharing things that you would put on your body … that way you’ll prevent yourself from getting the staph infections,” says Dr. Goo.
Tips for Parents
- Staphylococcus Aureus, often referred to simply as "staph," are bacteria that healthy people can carry on the skin or in the nose. Staph bacteria commonly cause skin infections. Most of these infections are minor, appearing as pimples and boils, and are treated without antibiotics. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC)
- In addition to skin infections, staph bacteria can cause infections in the blood, in the bones and in the lungs (pneumonia). Most serious staph bacteria infections are treated with an antibiotic related to penicillin. However, over the past 50 years, some staph bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics, including the commonly used penicillin-related antibiotics. These resistant staph bacteria are called Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or MRSA. (CDC)
- Good hygiene helps prevent staph and MRSA skin infections:
- Keep hands clean by washing thoroughly with soap and water.
- Keep cuts and abrasions clean and covered with a proper dressing (e.g., bandage) until healed.
- Avoid contact with other people's wounds or material contaminated from wounds.
- Several antibiotics can be used to treat most staph infections, including MRSA. If antibiotics are prescribed, patients should complete the full course and call their doctors if the infection does not improve. (CDC)
- The CDC is working with state and local public health authorities to monitor and investigate infections with MRSA, including pneumonia and other types of MRSA infections that occur in patients with influenza. The CDC also acts as a technical advisor to state and local health departments and various professional organizations that are working to control MRSA. (CDC)
References
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
