Frightening Staph Infection

My boss's Dr thought he had a staph infection at first. Now they don't believe he did. He had a "pimple" on his elbow that all of a sudden burst (gross, I know) and all this junk came out. He said that he was never in any pain or felt sick. His arm swelled and he has had to pack the area. The Dr said she might have to go in and do some type of surgery. I agree with Rosie about antibiotics. Drs are giving them out way too often and they do not help viral infections at all. The body becomes immune to the anitbiotics and then when you really do need them, they can't help. We just need to be careful and wash our hands often and be careful what we touch, etc. Always something, isn't it?

I have had this infection and it takes forever to get well again. I can't say that I will ever get rid of it because the doctors have told me that once it shows up it never completly goes away. I got lucky and it did not go into my blood stream because I found it early. The bad thing is I do have cysts from it that could become infected again or turn into something else. It is scarry. The thing with me is I don't know how I got it. You can be as clean as possible and still get it.

It is scary. We have a few cases in a neighboring town. They are saying on the news today, that it resistant to SOME antibiotics. I wonder if that means that they have to find which antibiotics will work on each patient or if they are saying that to just try to calm down the panic.

That would be interesting to hear. How would I find that radio station? We need to bear in mind that staph bacteria is present on everyone's skin, all of the time, it just causes an infection when it meets all the right conditions, including a weak or susceptible immune system. There is a staph infection that is the demon of medical facilities and nursing homes, it is referred to as MRSA, and frequently has to be treated by IV antibiotics. Health care workers and visitors are encouraged or required to gown up and wear gloves and masks. Yes, it can kill you, but I worked around it, without more than gloves for over a year, transporting a resident to Dr. appt. etc. and had no problem. I washed my hands often, used hand sanitizers, spray disinfectants. I still think that the program you are talking about is important to listen to. It would be scary if there is something worse than MRSA.

This is what happens when you combine evolution and overuse of antibiotics and antibacterial substances. Often these things are confined to hospitals since they are so antiseptic that they select for really nasty bacteria. As a biologist I cannot say that I am surprised that this happened, but as a human being with many friends and family this worries me. If the bacteria is highly contagious and resistant to treatment that could be very bad for all of us.

Yes worldwise I've heard about this...and it is frightening..I sometimes wonder with all the tendency of anti-bacterial this and that, that we've actually created more bacteria that has become resistant to anti-biotics ...if this is true that the infection can spread by mere contact, than this could be our new "plague"

I saw that one the news. This world is getting more frightening every day. We all have to be very diligent in washing our hands all the time, using hand sanitizer when away from home anytime we're exposed to anything that may be contaminated, which is just about anything we touch, let's face it. And for those who haven't gotten the message yet, doctors must stop giving out so many antibiotics needlessly and people have got to stop insisting on them for a simple cold or cough! Annie

I am thankful that my children are home schooled more every day. I know that they could come into contact with it someplace else but it helps that they aren't in school. I will talk with them about washing their hands more and using sanitizer each time in order to try to avoid this. It is scary to see all of the things that could harm us now and that the doctors like to give antibiotics too often and then they don't help when we need them.

Our school district was closed on Friday due to two cases being reported at the high school. This morning, my 17 yr old got up with a rash on most of her body, so we're taking her to the doctor ASAP to see what's up with her. The whole thing is just VERY scary!!!