July 1, 2010

Symptoms & Types of Staph Infection in Babies

Posted in Category : Child Health

The term staph infection is used to describe a medical condition caused by the Staphylococcus bacteria. There are many different types of Staphylococcus bacteria that can infect human beings but the most common type of staph infection occurs due to the Staphylococcus Aureus. Staph infections are extremely varied in the effect they have on human beings. Some people have the bacteria in their bodies or on their skin and will display no symptoms. Other symptoms maybe mild and ignored while some cases of staph infection can even be life threatening. Often the bacteria are present on the skin and only after a skin injury occurs do the bacteria get into the body and begin to infect the patient. Infants are in the high risk category for people who may develop staph infections while mothers who are breastfeeding are also in the risk category. People with chronic debilitating conditions like diabetes and cancer could develop staph infections as well as those who regularly use intravenous drugs. A staph infection usually causes skin related symptoms that include boils on the skin that contain pus. The boils often appear in clumps and the skin around the boils tends to be red, inflamed and painful. If the staph infection invades the blood of the patient, then it could cause fever and low blood pressure and is considered to be a serious medical condition. This should be taken extremely seriously because the bacteria can infect vital organs of the body and play complete havoc with the system.

A newborn staph infection could occur due to complications with the infant’s health. An infant who is already ill or has recently recovered from an illness can be affected by staph. Conjunctivitis is one condition that can be caused by a staph infection in an infant or a toddler. Toddler staph infections need a laboratory analysis of tissue and nasal fluid samples in order to be confirmed. A child staph infection is usually treated using milder antibiotics than one would use on an adult patient. It is necessary for the doctor to have an accurate picture of the child’s health before the infection so that any other underlying condition does not obstruct treatment. If a woman has a staph infection during pregnancy, then she will need to take special medication that does not affect the unborn child. This is especially true if the infection affects the vaginal area which needs to be infection free prior to delivery.