Staph infection is the infection caused by staphylococcus bacteria that is found on the skin or sometimes, in the nose of even healthy people as well. It is very common and sometimes, we do not have an idea that we can get affected. There is a 30% chance that these bacteria are living in your nose right at this moment.
Paul Fey, PhD, medical director of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s microbiology section says that Staph or Staphylococcus Aureus (in full terms) are also known as “commensal microorganisms” because many times, they live on our skin without causing any harm.
He further explains that you can find these bacteria anywhere, on your skin, in your nose or even in your mucous membranes, for example your anus.
Although these bacteria do not cause any harm if they are present in the areas where they normally live, but if they start spreading to the other areas, where they do not belong to, they can cause different kinds of infections and illnesses too. Fey says that there are different types of staph infections that show up in different ways.
Here are some of the symptoms of staph infection that you need to be aware of:
1. Skin Boils or Pustules
Fey says that the most common type of staph infection by far is pus filled or inflamed skin blemishes.
He explains that if you have a mosquito bite on your arm and a staph on your finger (that is there because you have been scratching or touching your nose too much), and you scratch that mosquito bite, or any other place where your skin is broken, the staph can infect your skin that then results in the formation of a big, red, painful, puss-filled blemish.
He says that it is quite common in the ER that people come in, thinking that they have got a big spider bite, whereas it is just a staph infection.
He further explains that not only blemishes, you can also develop impetigo, that is a rash-like cluster of raised blisters.