Staphylococcus bacteria is a germ commonly found on the skin and in the nose. Generally, the bacteria is harmless, occasionally resulting in minor skin infections. But for some, the staphylococcus bacteria can cause more serious infections and, in some cases, become life-threatening. That's because staph infection, while normally only affecting the outer layers of the dermis, can sometimes be internalized, leading to free-flowing bacteria in the bloodstream, lungs, heart and kidneys. This is most common in those who are already ill or have weakened immune systems. Most times, the treatment of staph infection is as simple as taking the right medication.
Penicillin
It used to be that penicillin was the first and most commonly turned-to method for treating staph infection. Penicillin gets in the way of bacteria while they are forming cell walls. By weakening the bacteria wall, eventually the bacteria just breaks down and dies, the infection going right along with it.
Methicillin
Methicillin is a pseudo-synthetic version of penicillin, also referred to as staphcillin. According to the Mayo Clinic, fewer than 10 percent of today's staph infections can be taken care of with penicillin, so methicillin was created to deal with the problem. Only the bacteria can adapt and form immunity to various types of antibiotics. It has done it with penicillin, and now it is more and more able to resist methicillin as well. When staph infection become resistant to methicillin, staph becomes known as MRSA, or methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus.
MRSA
Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus is commonly found in hospital patients, care facilities and those on kidney dialysis. MRSA infections do not respond to typical antibiotics, but they do respond to stronger, more toxic antibiotics like vancomycin, clindamycin, doxycycline, zyvox and bactrim. However, like antibiotics, staph infection has found a way to resist these as well. If a staph infection gets too severe, hospitalization may be required.
