Complications of Staph Infections
Staph bacteria can cause toxic shock syndrome, cellulitis, staph food poisoning, and these infections:
Folliculitis and Boils
Folliculitis is an infection of hair follicles, tiny pockets under the skin where hair shafts (strands) grow. In folliculitis, tiny white-headed pimples appear at the base of hair shafts, sometimes with a small red area around each pimple. This infection often happens in areas where there's been friction or irritation, such as with shaving.
Folliculitis often clears up on its own with good skin care. But sometimes it goes on to become a boil (also called a furuncle). With a boil, the staph infection spreads deeper and wider, often affecting the subcutaneous tissue (deeper tissue under the skin) and oil-producing glands (called sebaceous glands).
In the first stage, which parents and kids often miss, the area of skin either begins to itch or becomes mildly painful. Next, the skin turns red and begins to swell over the infected area. Finally, the skin above the infection becomes very tender and a whitish "head" may appear. The head may break, and the boil may begin to drain pus, blood, or an amber-colored liquid. Boils can occur anywhere on the skin, especially under the arms or on the groin or buttocks in kids.
To help relieve pain from a boil, try warm-water soaks, a heating pad, or a hot-water bottle applied to the skin for about 20 minutes, three or four times a day. Make sure that the washcloths used for the soaks are washed after each use. Boils are occasionally treated with oral antibiotics and in some cases need to be surgically drained.
Impetigo
Impetigo can affect skin anywhere on the body but commonly occurs around the nose and mouth. It usually affects preschoolers and school-age kids, especially in the summer months.
In impetigo, staph bacteria cause the skin to have large blisters. The fluid in the blisters starts out clear, then turns cloudy. The blisters may burst, ooze fluid, and develop a honey-colored crust. Impetigo may itch and can be spread by scratching.
Doctors usually prescribe a skin ointment to treat impetigo. Depending on how severe the symptoms are, oral (taken by mouth) antibiotics also might be prescribed.
MRSA
You may have heard about methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a type of staph bacteria with a resistance to the antibiotics that are used treat staph infections. Although MRSA infections can be harder to treat, in most cases they heal with proper care.
Most MRSA infections involve the skin, but sometimes MRSA can cause more serious problems, such as bone infections or pneumonia. MRSA pneumonia is rare, but is more of a risk for kids already sick with the flu.
Scalded Skin Syndrome
Scalded skin syndrome (SSS) most often affects newborns and kids under age 5. The illness usually starts with a small staph skin infection, but the staph bacteria make a toxin that affects skin all over the body. The child has a fever, rash, and sometimes blisters. As blisters burst and the rash passes, the top layer of skin sheds and the skin surface becomes red and raw, like a burn.
SSS is a serious illness that affects the body in the same way as serious burns. It needs to be treated in a hospital. After treatment, most kids make a full recovery.