Bacterial Skin Infections: Impetigo and MRSA

What kinds of bacteria can crusade contagious skin infections?

Certain bacteria ordinarily alive on the skin of many people without causing harm. Nevertheless, these bacteria can crusade skin infections if they enter the body through cuts, open wounds, or other breaks in the skin. Symptoms may include redness, swelling, pain, or pus.

How serious are bacterial skin infections?

While many bacterial skin infections are balmy and easily treatable, some can become very serious and fifty-fifty life threatening. In addition, some bacterial infections can exist spread to others. This is why prevention is and then important.

What are the two most mutual leaner that cause skin infections?

  1. Group A Streptococcus (GAS), often called "strep."
  2. Staphylococcus aureus, commonly chosen "staph."

Impetigo

What is impetigo?

Impetigo is a common bacterial pare infection caused by Group A Streptococcus (GAS) or "strep."

What is Group A Streptococcus (GAS)?

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) or "strep" is a common bacterium (bacterium is the singular form of the plural, leaner) that is found on the peel or in the throat ("strep pharynx"). People tin can acquit GAS and have no symptoms of illness or they may develop relatively mild skin infections, including impetigo.

How does impetigo spread?

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) or "strep" tin can be transmitted through direct person-to-person contact with someone who has the infection. GAS can too exist picked up indirectly through contact with an item (such as a wrestling mat, gear, towel, razor, or cell phone) that is contaminated with the bacterium.

What are the symptoms of impetigo?

  • Symptoms usually began 1-3 days after infection.
  • Sores (lesions) brainstorm as small cerise spots, normally on the face (especially around the nose and mouth), but tin announced anywhere on the body.
  • The sores are often itchy, merely ordinarily not painful.
  • The sores develop into blisters that break open and ooze fluid -- this fluid contains infectious bacteria that can infect others if they have contact with it.
  • After a few days, the ruptured blisters grade a flat, thick, honey-colored (yellowish-dark-brown) crust that somewhen disappears, leaving red marks that heal without scarring.
  • There may exist swollen glands (enlarged lymph nodes), merely ordinarily no fever.
  • Click here to view a photo of impetigo on the face from DermAtlas.

What should athletes do if they recall they take impetigo?

While balmy cases of impetigo may be treated without seeing a health care provider, athletes are recommended to have a medical professional determine what blazon of infection they accept, how to care for it, and if it is contagious. If the infection is contagious, athletes should non practice or compete until their medical provider clears them to render.

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Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

What is Staphylococcus aureus?

Staphylococcus aureus ("staph") is a bacterium that is carried on the skin or in the nose of approximately 25% to 30% of good for you people without causing infection -- this is called colonization. Staph bacteria are one of the most common causes of pare infections in the U.South. Nearly of these pare infections are pocket-size (such as pimples and boils), are not spread to others (non infectious), and usually can exist treated without antibiotics. However, some staph bacteria are resistant to certain antibiotics -- one blazon is called MRSA.

What is MRSA?

MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. MRSA is a staph bacterium that certain antibiotics in the penicillin family should be able to treat, but cannot. When the infection is resistant to the medication, it is called resistance. However, other not-penicillin antibiotics can effectively treat about MRSA infections.

MRSA infection on arm
MRSA Infection on Arm

What causes antibiotic resistance?

Most resistance to antibiotics develops from taking them improperly. Examples are:

  • Incomplete apply: Not finishing the unabridged antibiotic prescription (often because people commencement to experience better and stop taking the medication).
  • Inappropriate use: Taking antibiotics for a viral infection (antibiotics do Non care for viral infections such as colds or the flu).
  • Unnecessary use: Taking antibiotics "merely in instance" (for example, taking them prior to a vacation or special event to try to preclude illness).

It is important to have prescription medication merely when prescribed for you past a health professional and to take all the medicine even if y'all feel better before you lot accept completed the prescription.

How serious is MRSA?

Although health care providers tin can treat most MRSA pare infections in their offices, MRSA tin can be very serious and even cause death. MRSA can crusade pneumonia or severe infections of the blood, basic, surgical wounds, centre valves, and lungs. MRSA can be fatal if non identified and treated with effective antibiotics.

How does someone get MRSA infection?

Most often, MRSA is transmitted by direct skin-to-skin contact with someone who has the infection.

MRSA can exist spread by indirect contact besides (for example contact with a mat that has infected drainage on it or past sharing a towel or jail cell phone with someone who has MRSA). Because of this, never share personal hygiene and wellness items.

Where on the pare does MRSA announced and what are the symptoms?

MRSA infections commonly occur where there is a break in the skin (for instance, a cut or wound), especially in areas covered by hair (for example, the beard area, dorsum of the cervix, armpit, groin, legs, or buttocks)

MRSA may wait like a bump on the skin that may exist ruby, swollen, warm to the touch on, painful, filled with pus, or draining. The pus or drainage contains the infectious bacteria that can be spread to others. People with MRSA may accept a fever.

MRSA infection on thigh
MRSA Infection on Thigh

How is MRSA diagnosed and treated?

Depending on your symptoms, your wellness care provider may transport a nasal swab or pare tissue specimen to a laboratory to identify the infection or confirm that you lot have MRSA.

Your health care provider may bleed the pus from the lesion -- do non do this yourself.

If you are prescribed an antibiotic, take it exactly every bit directed and take all of the medicine fifty-fifty if the infection improves or goes away before you accept finished the entire prescription. If the infection does not begin to improve within a few days, contact your health care provider.

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