Staph. aureus is a ubiquitous bug. Most humans are carriers of Staph mainly in the nostrils and moist areas of the body. It usually causes skin infections in the immunocompetent host, which the body is able to fend off. But in the immunocompromised population especially, patients who are hospitalised Staph aureus can enter the blood stream and can cause fatal infections. In the good old days, staph was sensitive to quite a good number of antibiotics. For various reasons over the last two decades some strains of staph have attained resistance to all(including Methicillin which used to be the final line of defence) except VANCOMYCIN. Hence the name MRSA(methicillin resitant). Contrary to popular belief, the most diffcult to eradicate infections of MRSA are of the hardware put in the body, viz. prosthetic hips, valves, etc and open wounds. MRSA pneumonia is another big problem too. Skin boils like the one you had described are uncommon in the general population albeit there is a brand new strain of MRSA which was recently in the news for causing severe skin infections. It gained publicity when one of the Boston red sox palyers contracted it. Apparently, unclean habits of sharing towels in the palyers room was a postulated cause. The person did have deep skin infections!!
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Staph. aureus is a ubiquitous bug. Most humans are carriers of Staph mainly in the nostrils and moist areas of the body. It usually causes skin infections in the immunocompetent host, which the body is able to fend off. But in the immunocompromised population especially, patients who are hospitalised Staph aureus can enter the blood stream and can cause fatal infections. In the good old days, staph was sensitive to quite a good number of antibiotics. For various reasons over the last two decades some strains of staph have attained resistance to all(including Methicillin which used to be the final line of defence) except VANCOMYCIN. Hence the name MRSA(methicillin resitant). Contrary to popular belief, the most diffcult to eradicate infections of MRSA are of the hardware put in the body, viz. prosthetic hips, valves, etc and open wounds. MRSA pneumonia is another big problem too. Skin boils like the one you had described are uncommon in the general population albeit there is a brand new strain of MRSA which was recently in the news for causing severe skin infections. It gained publicity when one of the Boston red sox palyers contracted it. Apparently, unclean habits of sharing towels in the palyers room was a postulated cause. The person did have deep skin infections!!