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Some bacteria don’t respond well to medicine. You may have heard one such type of bacteria called “staph.” Staph bacteria can be drug resistant. This means they can be harder to treat with drugs commonly used to treat skin infections.
These types of skin infections can develop into more serious, even life-threatening problems, such as infections of the heart, blood, and bones. Although they happen most often in nursing homes and hospitals, more and more cases are showing up in people of all ages outside of the hospital setting.
Some common skin infections caused by staph are:
- Boils: Painful, red lumps that swell and get white heads like pimples. Boils form on oily or moist skin, such as the neck, armpits, groin, and buttock. They may break open and ooze pus or blood.
- Impetigo: Blisters with fluid in them, which pop and get a yellow crust. Children often get it on the face. It can be spread by scratching.
- Infected hair roots (follicles): Small bumps under the skin at the base of the hair. They may itch.
The good news is that new drugs are being developed to help treat these drug-resistant infections.
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