Staphylococcal can cause various types of infection like changes in skin, infection in internal organs and blood poisoning or sepsis. These are all included in symptoms of staph infection. It is important for few diseases cause by these bacteria, to focus on the signs of staph infection and get it cured before it threatens the life. At the same time some type of infection would be cured naturally.
What is Staph?
Staph (pronounced as ‘Staff’) is a gram-positive spherical parasitic bacterium. Some of them cause infections or septicemia by forming the irregular colonies.
What Is Staphylococcal (Staph) Infection?
Caused by Staphylococcal bacteria and their toxin production, Staph infection is an irritation of the skin or internal organs. The bacteria generally enter the body with an open cut and it can be life-threatening as well.
Symptoms of Staph Skin Infection
One may get Staph skin infection through the cut or scratch or by skin-to-skin contact with the infected person. It is wise to keep wound clean and dry, to avoid the infections transmission. Symptoms and signs of staph infection in skin can be as listed below:
- Red rashes or blisters with pus
- Skin bumps and eyelid swelling
- Impetigo – the small red blister which gets crust and erode.
- Paronychia – Infected tissue adjacent to nails.
- Cellulitis –Inflammation of body tissues with fever and swelling.
- Staphylococcal scalding skin syndrome -Scaling of skin
- Infected acne
- Staphylococcal lymphangitis -lymphatic vessels infection
Various Types of Staph and their Symptoms:
Staph Mastitis symptoms
Staph mastitis is an inflammation of breast tissues which occur mainly to breastfeeding mothers. The possible time period of its occurrence is within 6 weeks of child’s birth. Symptoms of staph mastitis are:
- Red painful lump in the breast with swelling.
- Itchiness of breast skin and nipple
- Nipple discharge
- Fever
- Lymph nodes close to armpit.
Staph Food Poisoning Symptoms
Staph food poisoning can occur by eating infected food with toxins produced by the bacteria of Staphylococcal. Symptoms of staph food poisoning are:
- Nausea or vomiting within 8 hours of food intake.
- Diarrhea and fever can follow nausea and vomiting sometimes.
- Generally the sickness remains for 1 to 3 days and get cured naturally.
Bacterial Parotitis symptoms
It is an inflammation in the area of parotid gland caused by staph bacteria. Symptoms of Bacterial Parotitis are:
- Pain and swelling beneath the ear.
- Trismus- trouble in opening the mouth
- Dysphagia- trouble in swallowing
- Discharge in the mouth
- Fever with chills
Bacterial Sinusitis Symptoms
The inflammation of in the inner surface of sinuses is called Bacterial Sinusitis. It is generally caused by the staph bacteria. Symptoms of Bacterial Sinusitis are:
- Aching teeth, head and face
- Cough and nasal blockage
- Greenish to yellowish nasal discharge
- Fever and swelling in face
- Kids may feel confusion and unable to concentrate on studies
While bacterial sinusitis will trouble the patient for more than 10 days; viral sinusitis can get cured naturally in few days.
Staph Vaginitis Symptoms
Symptoms of Staph Vaginitis are:
- Discharge of pus and sometimes with presence of blood
- Odor
- Pain while urinating and at the time of sexual intercourse
- Itchiness
Bacterial Epiglottitis Symptoms
An epiglottis is a tissue flap that covers the larynx and windpipe while swallowing the food. The rare disease of bacterial Epiglottitis is the infection of the epiglottis which can block the air flow to the windpipe. It is generally seen in children. The symptoms of Bacterial Epiglottitis are:
- Extreme pain in throat especially while swallowing food.
- Painful swallowing
- Excessive flow of saliva
- Difficulty in breathing
- Fever
Symptoms of Bacterial Urinary Infection in Men
Staphylococci bacteria can cause infection in men Urinary system. The main symptoms are buringin and pain during urination with the increased frequency and inability to control the urine for longer time.
Symptoms of Bacterial Prostatits:
- Fever, paining groin, muscles, testicles or lower abdomen along with cloudy urine and sometimes blood in semen.
Kidney and Bladder Infections:
Symptoms of this disease are pain in kidney and bladder with cloudy urine and fever.
Staph Bone Infection (Osteomyelitis) Symptoms
It is an inflammation of bone caused by staph bacteria and there are no clear symptoms of it except affected mobility of limb, pain and sometimes lymph nodes. The infection is likely to get spread to the contiguous joint. If the infection has spread with blood then the swelling and redness is visible.
Life Threatening Staph Infections Symptoms
Staph Pneumonia Symptoms
Staphylococcal bacteria can cause pneumonia especially to the patients who are suffering from lung diseases, venous drug addict or a person with internal prosthetic tool. The symptoms like high fever, chills, increased heartbeats, cough and breathing problem are same as the regular Pneumonia
Bacterial (Staph) Endocarditis Symptoms
Symptoms of Bacterial Endocarditis are:
- Fever
- Weakness with paleness
- Exhaustion, joint pains
- Red nodes on the fingers, Petechiae, red skin spots
Staph Meningitis Symptoms
The bacterium attacks patients with the brain surgery or skin infections.
Symptoms of Staph Meningitis are mild fever, tiredness, headache, lethargy, loss of orientation.
Staph Sepsis
Staph sepsis generally occurs when the staph bacteria enters the blood and can be fatal.
Symptoms of staph sepsis are:
- Sudden fever or hypothermia
- The patient can feel extremely weak and suffer from diarrhea or vomiting and nausea.
- Increased heartbeat and hyperventilation
- Symptoms of other already affected organs become intense.
The other symptoms of sepsis can also be blood clothing, low breathing, and limited urination.
Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections
Caused by Staphylococci bacteria, Necrotizing means premature death of cells and tissues. However, few other bacteria can also cause this disease.
Symptoms can be a red bump or red spot which gets transferred into painful black patch with the fluid pus. Interestingly, it can develop within an hour. The other general symptoms are similar to sepsis. It does get cured naturally and one needs to visit the doctor to avoid any fatal complications.
Toxic Shock Syndrome
It is a rare but fatal disease caused by staphylococcus bacteria.
Symptoms of toxic shock syndrome are:
- Fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting
- Skin rash and skin peel off
- Muscle pains
References:
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=staph
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=5548
http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec23/ch272/ch272f.html
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/staphylococcalinfections.html
