Live Life Team
Staphylococcus is a bacterium which causes different contagious infections through its various strains, affecting the skin largely, and other internal organs in some cases. The most common strain is staphylococcus aurous.
The staphylococcal bacteria forms clusters and harmlessly stay together on the skin surface without having any signs of infection in 20-30% of the people. In others, this bacterium is carried in the nostrils, throat, mouth, upper respiratory tract, breasts, urinary tract and genitals and develops no infection.
It is only when the bacteria multiplies into large numbers on the skin surface or are able to penetrate the skin through a break or cut, they become dangerous enough to overpower the body’s immune system and cause infections of the skin. These infections can be:
Abscesses (pouches of pus collections beneath the skin)
Boils (hair follicles getting infected with pus)
Styes (glands in the underside of eyelid get infected)
Cellulitis (skin infection affecting the tissue and fat layers right underneath it)
Carbuncles (these are larger forms of abscesses which normally open into the skin at various points)
Impetigo (skin infection with occurrence of pus filled eruptions or blisters).
Staphylococcal bacteria, in majority infections, affect the skin; however, if the bacteria find their way through the bloodstream, they can cause serious internal conditions and disorders, such as:
- Septic arthritis or serious problems in joints
- Septic shock
- Pneumonia or infection in lungs
- Osteomyelitis or infection in the bone marrow
- Abscesses inside the body at any favourable place
- Meningitis or inflammation of the lining and its surrounding tissues of the spinal cord and the brain
- Endocarditis or infection in the lining of heart
- Some of the staphylococcal strains secrete toxins while they multiply and grow and can be a cause for a variety of infections like
- scalded skin syndrome and rarely, toxic shock syndrome. If one ingests food infected with the staphylococcus, the toxins or poisons can lead to food poisoning.
Symptoms
The most commonly occurring symptoms of staphylococcal bacterial infections are blisters, boils or abscesses on the skin, blistering and scaling of skin, especially in babies and young kids, swelling in the lymph nodes in armpit, groin or neck areas, pain and / or swelling around the cut or scrape in the skin.
The bacteria that travel into the bloodstream can develop an expanse of infections and related symptoms depending on the body part they infect and the condition they develop.
The staphylococcal bacteria causing food poisoning is associated with symptoms like repeated vomiting and diarrhoea within six hours of ingesting contaminated food. The symptoms usually do not last more than 12 hours.
Causes
The staphylococcal bacterial infections are contagious and spread through air, contact with infected people and from contaminated things. The bacterium stays on the skin surface and can cause infection if they multiply in abundance. They can penetrate the skin through a cut or a scrape in the skin, get entry into the skin through an inflamed oil gland or hair follicle and can enter through skin injured by burns or skin damaged by insect bites.
Food poisoning occurs when one eats food contaminated by staphylococcal bacteria. The contamination usually occurs from the infected blister or boil or skin of the person preparing the food and also if food is not properly done or kept at the right temperature. The bacteria breed on the infected food and release poisons and toxins which develops food poisoning when food is eaten. It does not spread through contact with person suffering from food poisoning.
The people at high risk of developing staphylococcal infections are newborns, breastfeeding women, those with low immunity due to certain medications and treatments like chemotherapy and radiation, people who are recovering from recent surgery, those suffering from chronic illnesses like diabetes, lung disease and cancer, people who have dermatitis or such skin problems, those who take drugs intravenously and who have intravenous catheter inserted for more than 24-48 hours.
