These comments are made for the purpose of discussion and should NOT be used as recommendations for or against therapies or other treatments. An individual patient is always advised to consult their own physician.
Staph infection on the face
Question: I have a staph infection on my face and back. I have
red patches and some acne. What do you suggest? I am a 31 year old
female.
Answer: Staph infections will require systemic antibiotics to clear. Focusing on keeping the face clean will help, but will not eliminate the problem. Most people have staph on the skin – an infection is quite a different matter.
Persistant Infection
Question:My son (two years old)has been gettings boils once a month for the past year. His Pedi/Doc. says its a Staph infection in his nose and suggested it should be treated with antibiotics applied in his nose three tims a day for ten days and a antibiotic bath soap used with newborns for 3 days. We have been chasing down this problem for too long do you have any suggestions?
Answer: Boils of the skin are usually caused by gram positive organisms. Your physician is trying to decrease the number and virulence of the staph or strep bacteria on your sons skin by using antibiotic soap. In general, this is a cheap and usually effective treatment and doesn’t involve giving antibiotics systemically which can always cause diarrhea-a major problem in a young child. Another possibility which is uncommon;but, occasionally present is an immune disorder. In children, these are usually inherited and center around the white blood cells ability to phagocize(eat) and digest bacteria. If your son continues with these infections, a visit to a pediatric infectious disease consultant might be in order.
