Rare staph infection kills man. Are these cases becoming more prevalent?
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“Oftentimes, either before surgery or when someone is admitted to the intensive care unit in the hospital, we’ll actually do a culture of their nose because that's often where these germs live.” - David Cutler, MD
"If you think it's in their bloodstream, you'll need to do a blood culture to actually grow out the germs and find out if it is that type of MSSA staph aureus or the methicillin-resistant staph aureus." - David Cutler, MD
Staph infections are common in the United States. This is particularly true in healthcare settings, where the Centers for Disease Control and Infection (CDC) reports staph as a leading cause of infection in healthcare settings.[]While less common, staph infections can also be deadly.
This November, a 20-year-old man in Australia died from a staph infection, The Daily Mail Australia reported.[] The infection reportedly started out as a cut on the man’s lip and then spread to his brain. The man’s doctors were not able to provide the care needed to save his life, they said.
Staph infections in the US
There are various kinds of staph infections, including those caused by Staphylococcus aureus (staph), a bacterium commonly found on the skin.[] Staph can cause infections if it gets into the bloodstream, and its infections can put a person at risk of serious health complications, including death, if they do not receive proper medical treatment.
Proper medical treatment for staph can vary based on whether the germ is a methicillin-resistant staph (MRSA) or methicillin-susceptible staph (MSSA). Methicillin-resistant staph may be better-known among patients and doctors, and over the years healthcare recommendations have succeeded in reducing its presence in healthcare settings. The CDC reports, however, that while MRSA is on the decline its downward trajectory has begun to slow.[] And, according to 2019 data MSSA staph has not declined in the same way.
In some places, the CDC adds, community-based increases in staph infection may be a result of the opioid crisis. The agency reported that, in 2016, 9% of all serious staph infections occurred in people who inject drugs—an increase from 4% in 2011.
David Cutler, MD, a board-certified family medicine physician at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, says it is important for doctors and patients not to become overly fearful of staph infections—or sensationalized news stories about staph. Instead, he encourages doctors to educate patients on the medical steps they can take to prevent a staph infection, and to stay on top of proper treatment and isolation protocols if tending to a patient with a staph infection.
Preventing staph infections
People may be able to take steps to reduce the chances of contracting staph infections, such as following careful handwashing protocols and being aware of their risk levels.
People may be more at risk of staph infections if they:
Have a foreign medical object in their bodies, like a catheter
Are going in for an invasive surgery
Are being treated in an intensive care unit (ICU)
Use needles to inject illicit drugs
To reduce risks of contracting a staph infection, you may want to encourage your patients to take health initiatives to avoid landing in any of the above situations. For instance, encourage patients not to inject drugs if they don’t do so already, or encourage them to seek treatment if they do.
Additionally, you may advise a patient to follow a healthy diet and exercise routine. While this can have numerous benefits on health and well-being, it may help prevent future staph infections by reducing the likelihood of developing high blood pressure or diabetes, which could lead to a kidney disease and require the use of a catheter, Dr. Cutler says.
“You can take a step back from that,” Dr. Cutler explains. “Diabetes and high blood pressure are the most common causes of serious kidney disease. So, if we did more to prevent diabetes and high blood pressure, we'd have less kidney disease. Less kidney disease, [fewer] catheters sitting inside people to do dialysis for them, and [fewer] serious staph infections.”
Still, it’s not always possible to avoid all risks of staph infections, and some patients may develop high blood pressure or kidney disease even if they follow a healthy diet and exercise routine. Whatever the case, it is important to provide your patients with a good medical experience and treat them kindly and correctly if they have a staph infection.
Treating staph infections
Treatment for staph infections can involve putting a patient on antibiotics. But what antibiotics to prescribe will vary based on whether a patient has an MRSA or MSSA staph infection. So, the first step in treating a staph infection can be finding this out by taking a blood culture.
“If you think it's in their bloodstream, you'll need to do a blood culture to actually grow out the germs and find out if it is that type of MSSA staph aureus or the methicillin-resistant staph aureus—and exactly what antibiotics work best for treating the infection,” Dr. Cutler says.
He recommends ordering cultures for people who you suspect have staph infections, as well as people who may be at risk for infections, even if they do not have initial symptoms. He adds that doctors may also want to take mucosal culture samples from a patient's nose before a big surgery or ICU stay.
“Oftentimes, either before surgery or when someone is admitted to the intensive care unit in the hospital, we’ll actually do a culture of their nose because that's often where these germs live,” Dr. Cutler says.
If and when a culture reveals that a patient has a staph infection, proper treatment should be initiated in accordance with their diagnosis. The patient may also need to be isolated.