What diseases can staphylococci cause?

Staphylococcus is more common in skin infections, and this bacteria can easily cause wound infections on the skin. There are many diseases caused by Staphylococcus, such as skin infection, soft tissue infection, leukemia, etc. These diseases will have a great impact on the health of patients, so everyone should do a good job of prevention and do a good job of anti-inflammatory work when skin lesions occur.

1. What is Staphylococcus?

Staphylococci have a diameter of about 0.8 μm and are spherical in shape, but in early stage cultures in liquid medium, they are often dispersed and bacterial cells exist alone. Staphylococcus is widely distributed in nature. It can be found on the skin, feathers, eyelids, mucous membranes, and intestines of healthy poultry. Staphylococcus can be cross-transmitted in hospitals, especially in surgery departments, burn departments, neonatal wards, etc., causing epidemics.

Representative species of Staphylococcus include: Staphylococcus aureus (S-taphylococcusaureus) (yellow), Staphylococcus albus (S.albus) (white), Staphylococcus citreus (S.citreus) (orange), etc.

2. What diseases can Staphylococcus cause?

(1) Skin and soft tissue infections

Most skin and soft tissue infections are caused by Staphylococcus aureus, and a few pathogens may be Staphylococcus epidermidis. They mainly include furuncle, carbuncle, folliculitis, pustules, impetigo, pemphigus, otitis externa, wound infection, cavernous sinus thrombosis, hordeolum, bedsore infection, perianal abscess, etc.

When the subcutaneous tissue and hair follicles are infected by Staphylococcus aureus, boils may form, which are common in the neck, armpits, buttocks and thighs, and recurrence is common. Carbuncle often occurs on the back of the neck and back. It is a huge hard nodule that is red, swollen, painful, and has many sinus tracts and pus discharge. Folliculitis is a superficial infection caused by Staphylococci. Scabies is an infection secondary to a foreign body reaction in the hair, most often caused by Staphylococcus epidermidis.

Newborns may develop skin abscesses and occasionally severe pemphigus, which spreads throughout the body and mainly presents as bullae. The skin lesions are blisters, which rupture and ooze pus and form crusts, which are called impetigo. Otitis externa and wound (surgery or trauma) infections are mostly caused by Staphylococcus aureus. The latter may present as mild erythema, serous exudation, cellulitis, and wound dehiscence with pus discharge.

Cavernous sinus thrombosis is a rare but serious complication of Staphylococcus aureus facial infection. Paronychia and hordeolum are mainly caused by Staphylococcus aureus, while perianal abscess, especially those accompanied by anal fistula, and bedsore infection are mostly caused by intestinal bacteria, and Staphylococcus aureus is only a minority of the cases.

(2) Sepsis

Staphylococcus is a common pathogen of sepsis. Among 630 cases of sepsis in Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Staphylococcus accounted for 258 cases (40.9%), of which 164 cases (26.0%) were caused by Staphylococcus aureus and 94 cases (14.9%) were caused by Staphylococcus epidermidis. Epistatic sepsis often occurs in patients with serious underlying diseases or artificial organ devices and infants.

In the past 10 to 15 years, the incidence of Staphylococcus epidermidis and other coagulase-negative staphylococcal sepsis has increased dramatically in European and American countries. Its clinical manifestations are no different from those caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Staphylococcal sepsis can be primary or secondary. The former only has systemic symptoms, but no definite invasion route can be found.