Staph Infection – What is Staph ?

Staph (pronounced Staff) short for Staphylococcus, is a group of bacteria that can lead to numerous illnesses due to the bacteria infecting different parts of the body.

Staph bacteria cause illness both by infecting the body directly through the skin and also by producing toxins in the body that can lead to toxic shock syndrome and blood poisoning.

Illnesses caused by the Staph bacteria can range from non serious conditions, requiring little or no treatment, to very severe and even life threatening conditions.

Humans can be infected by around 25 to 30 different types of Staph bacteria.  These can be found in many places of the body, but are most commonly found in the skin and nasal passages of around 25% to 30% of the population.  Although carried by many, the Staph bacteria are harmless in the majority of cases.

Although Staph infections can be developed by anyone, there are groups of people that are more susceptible to developing them.  These include people who have an irritating skin condition (causing scratching and skin breaking) or people who are feeling low and run down.  Breast feeding mothers are also at an increased risk, as are babies and people with long term illnesses such as cancer & diabetes.

People who are unfit, or overweight or who lead an unhealthy lifestyle are also at an increased risk of developing Staph infections.

Diagnosis of Staph infections in the skin, is usually carried out by appearance.  Staph infections of the blood stream usually require the taking of blood samples to be tested at a laboratory.  These tests would determine which infection is present and which anti-biotics will be needed to combat the Staph bacteria.

Staph infections of the skin can be treated with creams & ointments (which can contain anti-biotics) or oral anti-biotics.  Staph infections that result in a boil or abscess may be surgically cut and the fluid (pus) drained.  The more serious Staph infections will require treatment by intravenous antibiotics, the use of which would have been determined during diagnosis.