Staph Infection Prevention

Kids get their share of scrapes, bumps and bug bites in the summertime. Now, these seemingly minor injuries are leading to a major health problem, staph infections. <br/><br/>News on 6 reporter Heather

Thursday, August 3rd 2006, 10:03 am

By: News On 6

Kids get their share of scrapes, bumps and bug bites in the summertime. Now, these seemingly minor injuries are leading to a major health problem, staph infections.

News on 6 reporter Heather Lewin talks to a Tulsa pediatrician, Dr. Pat Daley, who's shocked at the number of cases he's seeing. Plus, he says the medicine we're used to using, just doesn't work anymore.

"It really has become a big problem in my practice in the last year I'd say. Monday, I saw seven kids in the office with staph abscesses." Staphylococcus aureus -- often simply called "staph," are bacteria commonly carried on the skin or in the nose of healthy people.

The problem is when you're injured, staph can get into that open wound, even a mosquito bite can allow that to happen. Then, without proper wound care, you get a staph infection. In the past, this was easily treated with antibiotics, but now a new more resistant strain, known as MRSA is on the attack. â€œ80-percent of the staff infections around the head and neck area are MRSA. Two years ago, none of them were."

Without proper medical care, the complications can be deadly. "We really don't know why we're seeing so much more of this. And we didn't use to see it in healthy kids."

Dr. Daley says some contributing factors are the overuse of prescribed anti-biotics, a lack of proper sanitation in the locker room and improper wound care.

Doctors say you need to remember the three C's when you have an injury. Clean it with soap and water to get the germs and dirt out. Check it to make sure it doesn't need immediate medical attention. And Coat it with antibiotic ointment to prevent infection.

Dr. Daley also recommends sports equipment be sanitized regularly and towels not be shared or left lying around. "I think we need to change the whole way we've been doing things and think this is a bigger deal and we need to be aggressive about it."

Doctors are also seeing more children who require surgery. The antibiotics needed to fight stronger bacteria are expensive and used to only be used in the hospital for the most serious cases.