Staph infections can begin in many different forms, and cannot always be identified right away. However, one common beginning is a small area of tender, swollen or reddened skin. Other times infections first show signs with a very noticeable open sore. Unfortunately, is not always noticeable, and it will usually be impossible to figure out where the infection originated with any certainty. Folliculitis is an infections of the hair follicles (area under the skin where hair grows), and will present symptoms including white-headed pimples at the base of the hair.
It can be caused by shaving hair or irritation of an area by clothing rubbing against sensitive skin. Furuncles are boils and are painful lumps that fill with pus and grow until they burst, allowing the pus to drain.
Groups of furuncles are called carbuncles, and patients with them have been known to feel sick. Impetigo is a superficial (relating to, affecting or located on or near the surface of something) skin infection of the face, hands and feet that usually only affects younger children.
It isn’t painful, but can be itchy and spread through scratching. It usually appears as a pimple then becomes crusted over. Hordeolum’s, commonly known as a stye are infections of the eyelids. Painful swelling at the edge of the eyelid results from irritation of eyelashes.
Wound infections, caused by accident or surgery usually show symptoms within two days of the event. Patients may feel feverish and show signs of redness, pain, swelling, warmth, pus and cloudy fluid.
In most cases, the results are commonly folliculitis, boils, impetigo, and cellulitis. In other cases, S. Aureus has been known to release toxins into the body that can cause food poisoning or in some extreme cases, toxic shock syndrome. Toxic shock syndrome very rarely occurs, but the effects are very serious. TSS (toxic shock syndrome) is caused by two bacteria; Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes. Since TSS is a systemic illness (an illness that affects the entire body), the symptoms are often obvious. These symptoms can be found on the TSS page of kidshealth.org. Symptoms occur suddenly and can include, a high fever, rapid drop in blood pressure, sunburn-like rash on the entire body, vomiting and diarrhea, severe muscle aches or weakness, bright red coloring of the yes, throat and vagina, headache, confusion, disorientation, or seizures, and kidney and other organ failure. This all usually occurs approximately 2 or 3 days after infection. In addition, scalded skin syndrome is also a possibility with a staph infection. Scalded skin syndrome is a very rare disease, even in children which is the age group usually affected by this disease. It also has a low mortality rate, but it can be painful and needs to be addressed. Toxins produced by Staphylococcus aureus causes Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrome (SSSS). The result of the released toxins is an infection usually in the nasal and oral cavities, as well as the throat and umbilicus. A red rash develops and the toxins begin to break down patches or sheets of epidermal skin. Epidermal skin is the first of the three layers of skin (Epidermis, Dermis, and Hypodermis). Although it is more common in developing countries, SSSS is still a very serious condition until it is treated.
Most infections do not become serious; however, it is important to be aware of how staph infections become dangerous. When bacteria manage to enter the bloodstream through breaks in the skin, it is said to be a serious staph infection. This is because the bacteria are then capable of affecting almost any part of the body (lungs, heart, central nervous system, bones, etc.). People with weakened immune systems, such as chemotherapy patients, are the ones who most commonly receive these more serious infections. In any surgery, doctors and surgery staff take all the precautions to avoid infection, and their work is effective. Even MRSA affected surgery patients, although more difficult to heal, do so with the proper treatment. What treatments are available though, and what works?
No comments:
Post a Comment