A staph infection can spread to the blood, bones, joints, and organs in the body, including the heart and brain.
Staphylococcal meningitis is caused by staphylococcus bacteria. When it is caused by Staphylococcus aureus or Staphylococcus epidermidis bacteria, it usually develops as a complication of surgery or as an infection that spreads through the blood from another site.
Common neurologic manifestations of Staphylococcus aureus infection include meningitis, septic thromboemboli, and epidural abscesses. Patients with Staphylococcus aureus meningitis attributed to hematogenous dissemination may present with concomitant endocarditis and/or osteomyelitis.
Staphylococcal brain infections may cause mental deterioration and epileptic seizures, suggesting interference with normal neurotransmission in the brain.
Staph can cause serious infections if it gets into the blood and can lead to sepsis or death. Staph is either methicillin-resistant staph (MRSA) or methicillin-susceptible staph (MSSA). Staph can spread in and between hospitals and other healthcare facilities, and in communities.
Most of the time, these bacteria cause no problems or cause relatively minor skin infections. But staph infections can turn deadly if the bacteria invade deeper into your body, entering your bloodstream, joints, bones, lungs or heart.
Often, providers can tell if you have a staph skin infection by looking at it. To check for other types of staph infections, providers may do a culture, with a skin scraping, tissue sample, stool sample, or throat or nasal swabs. There may be other tests, such as imaging tests, depending on the type of infection.
Sepsis, which is an infection of the bloodstream, and one of the most dangerous forms of staph infection. Symptoms include rapid breathing, an elevated heart rate, fever, chills, and disorientation. Staph infections in bones which also cause fever and chills accompanied by pain in the infected area.
If left untreated, staph infections can be deadly. Rarely, staph germs are resistant to the antibiotics commonly used to treat them. This infection, called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), causes severe infection and death.
Most people recover from staphylococcal infections. Antibiotics typically kill the bacteria shortly after treatment begins. But reinfection and the need for additional treatment sometimes occur.
Staphylococcus aureus (or 'staph') is a kind of germ (bacteria) that is a common cause of skin infections. For most people staph skin infections clear up after treatment and seldom return, but for some people staph skin infections can recur or be an ongoing problem.
Staph bacterium is alive and contagious when present on the skin. On objects or materials, it can survive for 24 hours or longer. Therefore, to protect others, it is crucial to cover sores or lesions.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can survive on some surfaces, like towels, razors, furniture, and athletic equipment for hours, days, or even weeks.
The bacteria that cause staph infections live harmlessly on many people's skin, often in the nose and armpits and on the buttocks. They usually only cause an infection if they get into the skin – for example, through a bite or cut.
For serious staph infections, vancomycin may be required. This is because so many strains of staph bacteria have become resistant to other traditional antibiotics. This means other antibiotics can no longer kill the staph bacteria.
Keep your hands clean by washing them thoroughly with soap and water. Or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered with bandages until they heal. Avoid contact with other people's wounds or bandages.
PROGNOSIS A systematic review including 341 studies noted mortality rates are >25 percent at three months [86]. Mortality is higher among patients with underlying comorbidities, methicillin-resistant S.
Alternative Remedies Some people apply substances with reported antimicrobial properties, such as tea tree oil, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, eucalyptus essential oil, oregano essential oil, and others to skin infections to help them heal.
Studies conducted on mice and rabbits have shown staphylococcal α-toxins to cause severe damage to the myelin sheath and injury to nerve axons (13). Anti-staphylococcal beta-hemolysin antibodies have also been linked to neurologic complications in humans (14).
Anyone can develop a staph infection, although certain groups of people are at greater risk, including people with chronic conditions such as diabetes, cancer, vascular disease, eczema, lung disease, and people who inject drugs.
Once the staph germ enters the body, it can spread to bones, joints, the blood, or any organ, such as the lungs, heart, or brain.