The generic name of all diseases that are caused by various types of staphylococcus is staphylococcal infection. This infection is very resistant to a number of antibiotics, so it is she who tops the list of all pustular diseases. Staphylococcus has the ability to affect almost all organs and cause a number of diseases. For example, with damage to the skin, the following diseases can develop: abscess, furuncle, hydradenitis, panaritium, pyoderma. Staphylococcal infection can also be the cause of diseases of internal organs: pneumonia, endocarditis, tonsillitis, meningitis, abscess, osteomyelitis, sepsis and toxic shock.
Types of Staphylococcus
Three main varieties of staphylococcus are known to medicine: golden, epidermal, saprophytic. The most pathogenic and dangerous is considered Staphylococcus aureus. It can affect all human organs and, in addition, has a high resistance to antiseptics and antibiotics. Staphylococcus aureus is so unique that activity is not lost even when exposed to it: sunlight for half a day, high temperature (150C) for ten minutes, ethyl alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, saline, but quickly dies under the action of brilliant green, that is ordinary green.
Epidermal staphylococcus is usually a non-pathogenic pathogen; it is part of the human skin flora. But there are some diseases that this pathogen provokes. For example, it causes: blood infection with prolonged use of venous catheters; inflammation of the genitourinary organs, as well as staphylococcal infection, can occur in prosthetic joints or in transplanted vessels. Epidermal staphylococcus is quite resistant to many antibiotics, for its treatment, strong drugs are needed, such as rifampicin, gatifloxacin, vancomycin, moxifloxacin, linezolid.
Saprophytic staphylococcus is less pathogenic than other species. It rarely appears in children, often affects the female body. This staphylococcus, as a rule, is the cause of the inflammatory process in the bladder, it can rarely provoke inflammation of the kidneys. Since the saprophytic pathogen has localization mainly in the genital area, it is the genitourinary system that suffers .
The clinical picture of staph infection
The clinical manifestations of the disease directly depend on: the type of staphylococcus, its pathogenicity, the location of the lesion (skin or a specific organ), the degree of protection of the immune system. If the skin is affected by a staphylococcal infection, the symptoms are characteristic of a developed disease. The most common pustular disease is pyoderma. It is characterized by the occurrence of an inflammatory process at the root of the hair. If pyoderma is not adequately treated, the risk of carbuncle or boil formation is significantly increased. Most often they are localized on the hips, back of the neck, buttocks. The most dangerous place is the face, since the occurrence of a carbuncle or boil in this part of the body can lead to the development of an abscess of the brain or purulent meningitis.
In newborns, a staph infection appears - signs of Ritter's disease. As a rule, the symptoms of the disease are very similar to the manifestations of scarlet fever or erysipelatous inflammation, that is, blisters appear, which then peel off with sufficiently large layers of affected skin. The most serious condition that a staph infection can cause is toxic shock and sepsis. The clinic of toxic shock is extremely pronounced. Pressure drops sharply, fever and severe pain in the abdomen appear, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting occurs, consciousness becomes confused, after a while a characteristic rash appears. With sepsis, almost all organs are affected, a high probability of death.
Treatment
Treatment should be immediate and aimed at the destruction of the pathogenic pathogen. What kind of treatment to apply, only a doctor should decide!