What do Staph infections look like?
Staph is one of the most common causes of skin infections. Staph skin infections are more likely to occur when there are breaks in the skin that allow the bacteria to enter, such as rubbed skin around the nose from a cold or scraped knees or elbows. Staph skin infections include: • Impetigo. A patch of skin is reddish and covered with yellow, honey-like oozing or crustiness. • Cellulitis. A patch of skin is red, hot, swollen and tender. • Boils and abscesses. These start looking like a spider bite or a reddish-purple pimple. They grow larger with yellow pus in the center, redness, heat, swelling and tenderness. How are Staph infections treated? Most Staph skin infections are mild and can be treated by washing the skin, draining the pus and using antibiotics on the skin or orally. If a Staph skin infection is found to be resistant to routine antibiotics, other antibiotics can be successfully used. Rarely, Staph infections can become “invasive” and cause much more serious infections of t
