What Every Parent Should Know About Staph Infections

Updated December 16, 2014.
Staph is a shorthand way to talk about the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, which is a common cause of skin infections.

Symptoms of Staph Infections

The symptoms of a staph skin infection depends on where the infection is. The staph bacteria can cause:

boils - an abscess within the skin. Also called a furuncle.
cellulitis - a localized skin infection which can make the skin red, painful, and warm
folliculitis - an infection of hair follicles

impetigo - causes blisters (bullous impetigo) or honey colored crusted lesions on the skin
paronychia - an infection of the skin folds of the nails

In addition to skin infections, the staph bacteria can cause:

bacteremia - a blood infection
deep abscesses - a collection of pus somewhere inside the body
endocarditis - an infection on the valves of the heart
food poisoning
lymphadenitis - an infection of a lymph gland, which causes it to be red, swollen, and painful
lymphangitis - an infection of the lymph channels that drain to lymph glands, causing red streaks in the skin
osteomyelitis - a bone infection
scalded skin syndrome
septic arthritis - an infection of a joint, like the hip or knee
styes - an infection of the glands on the eyelid
toxic shock syndrome

The Staphylococcus aureus bacteria can also less commonly cause other infections, including pneumonia, ear infections, and sinusitis.

MRSA

MRSA is an acronym for Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a type of bacteria that has become resistant to many antibiotics, including methicillin, penicillin, amoxicillin, and cephalosporins.

It is routinely pronounced M.R.S.A. - not MUR-SA.
Although once limited to hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities, MRSA infections are now very common among healthy children and adults in the community. Your pediatrician will likely suspect that an infection, such as a leg abscess, is caused by MRSA if it isn't improving with routine antibiotics. In that case, the abscess may need to be drained or the would need to be changed to a stronger or different antibiotic to treat the infection.

Diagnosis of Staph Infections

The diagnosis of most skin infections is made by the pattern of symptoms and physical exam findings. However, it is not usually possible to know whether the infection is caused by the staph bacteria or another bacteria, like group A Beta-hemolytic streptococcus (Streptococcus pyogenes). And in many cases, it doesn't matter, as the antibiotic your child is prescribed will likely treat both bacteria.
To make a definitive diagnosis and to confirm that staph is the bacteria causing the infection, a culture can be done. Once a bacteria is identified on a culture, the pattern on sensitivities to antibiotics can help to tell whether or not it is actually MRSA, routine staph aureus, or another bacteria.

Treatments for Staph Infections

Antistaphylococcal antibiotics are the usual treatments for staph infections. This may include a topical antibiotic cream (Bactroban, Altabax, etc.) for simple impetigo, warm compresses and drainage for abscesses, an oral antibiotic, or an intravenous antibiotic for more serious or persistent infections.
Commonly used oral antistaphylococcal antibiotics include the first-generation cephalosporins like Keflex (cephalexin) and Duricef (cefadroxil).

As resistance to antibiotics is now common among staph bacteria, including MRSA, or methicillin resistent staph aureus, the first antibiotic your child is prescribed may not work. Many of these community acquired MRSA infections can still be treated with oral antibiotics though, such as clindamycin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX or Bactrim). More serious and multi-drug resistent MRSA can usually be treated in the hospital with the antibiotic vancomycin and/or surgical drainage.

Unfortunately, some staph infections, especially invasive MRSA infections, can be deadly.

What You Need To Know

The S. aureus bacteria commonly lives on or colonizes the skin of children and adults. It is especially common to find it in the nose, which can make it easily spread as children pick their nose.
To get rid of staph colonization, it can sometimes help to treat all family members with mupirocin (Bactroban) nasal gel twice a day for 5-7 days, have everyone take weekly Hibiclens (an Antiseptic, Antimicrobial Skin Cleanser) baths, keep all wounds covered, and encourage very frequent handwashing.
Although it can be uncomfortable for your child, having your pediatrician drain an abscess can be the best way to get rid of the infection.
Zyvox (linezolid) is a newer antibiotic that can be used to treat complicated skin and soft tissue infections, including those caused by MRSA, in children. It is rather expensive though and would likely only be prescribed when other antibiotics either weren't working or the staph bacteria was known to be resistent to other more commonly used antibiotics, such as Bactrim and clindamycin.
Keep bites, scrapes, and rashes clean and covered to prevent them from getting infected by the staph bacteria.
Encourage kids to avoid sharing towels, razors, sports equipment, and other personal items at school and in the locker room, where spreading staph infections seems to be common.

_Sources:
_{Diagnosis of MRSA. Cohen & Powderly: Infectious Diseases, 2nd ed.}_{Community-acquired MRSA: A practitioner's guide. Nicolle L - CMAJ - 18-JUL-2006; 175(2): 145}_{R. Molina Klevens, DDS, MPH. Invasive Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections in the United States. JAMA. 2007;298:1763-1771.}