Known as: STAPH (pronounced staff)
About: Gram-positive bacteria
Microscope: Round grape-like clusters
What can it do: Over 30 types of Staph bacteria can infect humans. People can get sick either by direct infection or because of the toxins that the Staph bacteria produces. The most common Staph infections are skin infections, producing symptoms such as red, swollen skin, pimples and boils with pus, crusty skin or cellulitis. Staph infections can also cause pneumonia, blood poisoning, food poisoning and toxic shock.
Help: Staph infections are usually treated with antibiotic therapies but many have become antibiotic resistant including the strain MRSA. Infection can be prevented by maintaining good hygiene and protecting or covering cuts and openings in the skin where infection can take hold.
Infectious rating: Staph is infectious as long as the person who has Staph remains infected. It can take up to 10 days for an infection to show up when person to person contact happens.
I feel sick: Depending on which strain of Staph is causing the infection, there are multiple symptoms that range from mild to dangerous.
Skin symptoms: Boils containing pus, red swollen skin, contagious impetigo with a painful rash or large fluid filled blisters that develop a crust, cellulitis causing blisters, redness and swelling and maybe discharge, Staphylococcal skin syndrome, mainly affects babies and children and symptoms include fever, rash, and sometimes blisters and may leave the skin looking scalded or burned with an open red sore.
Septic Arthritis: A Staph infection that causes septic arthritis, then toes, shoulders, knees and fingers can be affected and symptoms include pain and swelling, in affected joints as well as fever.
Tummy/intestine symptoms
If Staph results in food poisoning, then typical symptoms include vomiting and diarrhoea, low blood pressure and dehydration.
Toxic shock syndrome (TSS)
Toxic shock syndrome is a life threatening condition and should be taken seriously. Symptoms include muscle aches, diarrhoea, sunburn-like rash on soles of feet and palms of the hands, nausea, vomiting, confusion and high fever.
Blood poisoning (bacteremia)
Beginning signs of blood poisoning include a fever and low blood pressure. The bacteria can travel in the body and affect the organs the bones and muscles and even surgically implanted devices such as pacemakers. Blood poisoning is very serious and can be fatal and must be treated by a professional.
GEOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS
Most common in agricultural regions including South America, Central America and Sub Saharan Africa. Also in Southwest Asia, Southern and Eastern Europe and the Caribbean. In countries where vaccination of livestock is common, case are rare, more commonly Anthrax is found in developing countries where the animals are not routinely vaccinated.
