A urinary tract infection refers to an infection that affects the kidneys, bladder, ureters or urethra. MedlinePlus says that some symptoms of a urinary tract infection include a low fever, bloody or cloudy urine, pressure or cramping of the lower...
Staphylococcus aureus is part of the normal flora of the skin and the nose of many healthy people. It's usually responsible for minor skin infections. But occasionally, certain strains of Staphylococcus aureus may invade the lungs, bones,...
To initially treat toxic shock syndrome (TSS). eliminate the source of infection. If you are using a diaphragm, cervical cap or tampon and develop TSS symptoms, such as high fever, vomiting, diarrhea and extremely low blood pressure, remove the...
Toxic shock syndrome is an immune response to toxins that are released by bacteria. Common microbes such as Streptococcus pyrogenes and Staphylococcus aureus are responsible for throat and skin infections that are normally easy to cure. When...
Staphylococci--commonly called staph--cause a variety of human infections, including boils, skin infections (cellulitis), food poisoning, pneumonia, bone and blood stream infections and toxic shock syndrome. One species of staphylococci called...
Cellulitis describes an inflammation of the outer layer of skin, known as the dermis. The condition is related to an acute infection that has not spread to deeper tissues. It typically presents with local pain, swelling, tenderness, redness and...
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports group B Streptococcus is the leading cause of septicemia and meningitis in newborns. Septicemia is an infection of the bloodstream, and meningitis is an infection of the lining of...
Wounds come in a few different varieties. Some are due to trauma or injury. Others are planned surgical wounds. Regardless of what caused the wound, it constitutes a break in the skin and opens up the body to infection. According to the book...
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is a bacterial infection that can infect open wounds, blisters and skin lesions. Normal infection with the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, or S. aureus, can be treated with a variety of common...
According to "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine", cellulitis is an acute inflammation of the skin characterized by pain, redness, swelling and heat. It may be due to skin flora, such as S. aureus and S. pyogenes, or a large number of...
The Staphylococcus aureus bacteria is widely prevalent in the environment, and can cause skin infections such as abscesses in susceptible individuals. It is spread by direct contact with infected patients or with the approximately 25 percent of...
Staph is a common abbreviation for staphylococcus, which is a group of bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus is a common organism that lives on human skin and may turn from resident to invader if circumstances are favorable. Frequent sites of infection...
Infections are a common cause of a sore throat, known medically as pharyngitis. Other, more rare pharyngitis causes include adult Still's disease, an immune system disorder, cancers and acid reflux. Since there are many possible causes of a sore...
A puncture wound occurs when a sharp object penetrates the skin barrier. Nails are the culprit in 90 percent of puncture wounds, most often on the bottom of the foot, according to FamilyPracticeNotebook.com. Although deeper structures such as...
Cephalosporins are a class of antibiotics that are widely used both to treat existing infections and prevent infections from occurring. They can be given both orally and through an intravenous line. They were initially discovered in 1948 from the...
Antibiotics take advantage of the fact that bacteria cells have certain key differences compared to healthy human cells. As a result there are many different kinds of antibiotics that attack bacteria in different ways. One such class of...
Antibiotics are drugs used to inhibit bacteria growth. According to MedlinePlus, a service of the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, antibiotics kill bacteria or prevent them from reproducing. Different classes of...
Pain medication and antibiotics are two types of medication given following shoulder surgery. Pain control is typically administerered via IV. As patients continue in the post-operative course, they can be transitioned to oral pain medications...
Staphylococcus aureus, commonly referred to as staph, is a bacterium that can cause infections in the blood, lung, skin, soft tissue, bladder and on heart valves. Staph bacteria can invade the body through cuts and abrasions or contaminated...
The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that secretes fluids to transport sperm. About 6 to 8 percent of men in the Unites States, between the ages of 30 and 50 years, seek treatment for a prostate infection each year. A prostate...
The diabetic foot ulcer causes more hospitalizations of people with diabetes than any other diabetic complication. According to the text, "A Practical Approach to Infectious Disease, 4th ed.", diabetics are 17 times more likely to develop gangrene...
Ankle fractures are a common orthopedic problem. Assessing the instability of the ankle fragments helps guide management of the fracture. Not all fractures require surgery, but sometimes surgery is preferred to improve outcomes. Initial fracture...
There are a wide variety of acute and chronic conditions that can affect the knee joint. The knee joint is made up of bone, tendons, ligaments, cartilage and soft tissue structures. Acute conditions range from infection to meniscal tears to...
Antibiotics have been linked to a decrease in birth control efficacy, especially when in reference to oral contraceptive pills (OCPs). The MayoClinic reports that the idea that antibiotics can negatively affect birth control may be exaggerated,...
Infections of the bladder, or cystitis, in toddlers are diagnosed by the presence of bacteria in the urine and presence of symptoms such as frequent and painful urination, bed wetting after successful potty training, squatting, abdominal pain, and...
There are many types of drugs used in medicine to treat the various diseases that people have. More than one type of medication can treat the same disease because different medications may treat a particular disease in a different way. One type of...
Staphylococcus and streptococcus are spherical bacteria that can cause mild to severe infections, especially in immunocompromised individuals. While staph skin infections are common, this bacterium can also invade the bloodstream, urinary tract,...
Staphylococci, also known as staph, are widespread in nature, their normal habitats being the human skin and mucous membranes. Staphylococcus aureus is the most common type of staph that can cause both superficial and deep pus-forming infections....
The fibula is a bone in the lower leg that runs in parallel with the tibia. The bone is located between the knee and the ankle joints and can be felt on the outside part of the lower leg. Fractures or breaking a bone can occur at any portion of...