Boil Staph Infection

A friend's daughter had the same kind of boil and it cleared up with antibiotics and she hasn't had one since. Sounds like everything is fine with your daughter. If it HADN'T gone away I would worry, but sounds like everything is fine.

Just makes sure that once it's gone she doesn't touch anything that had touched her foot while she had it. Disinffect her shoes and stuff too. They spread, like a wildfire if they aren't looked after. I have had several from some not so clean roomates before and I could not imagine a small child having to go thru that pain several times so just make sure everthing stays clean!

Hi T.,

Both of my two year old twin boys had a staph infection two weeks ago. One of my twins responded fine when the pedi drained (lanced) it and prescribed antibiotics for ten days. My other twin didn't. Within a few hours he was running a very high temp and within twenty four hours was no longer walking on his leg (the site was on his right buttock). After taking him back to the pedi the next evening (the earliest they could see him), she immediately called Children's Medical in Dallas and told them we were coming. We rushed Gage down there, sat in the ER for 2 1/2 hours until the surgeon the dr called could come look at it and as soon as he saw it, he said "find him a room". Gage was admitted Tuesday 11/27 and had surgery (complete anesthesia and intibation) the following morning to remove what the surgeon said was a raquettball size infection. My son spent two days in the hospital on IV antibiotics and 10 days following heavy orals that we just finished a few days ago. Both boys had the MRSA staph which is the very resistant kind. I have no idea how my boys contracted this, my pedi said staph can colonize in a person's body for quite awhile and then just become active one day. There has been a lot of cases on the news lately. It's definitely not something to ignore or mess around with. Glad your little one (and mine!) have gotten better :-)

I actully had one a few years ago and it was so painful. I could not stand the pain it got so bad. I went to the dr and he had to cut it open anddrain the pus. Then he also told me not to get it wet or wash it or anything. Then it just got worse and I went back and I saw another doctor and he told me that the other doc was crazy that I need to wash it like crazy. THen he packed it went packing tabe and cream. It was horrible and painful. Then I started to develope antoher one he said it spreads if not treated with antibotics. So he poped that one as well and gave me antibotics. Then at hom we had to pack the open one it was horrible. So if they are anything like that. Go the the doctor and get some meds. Dont wait as long as I did and it get to that point.

My daughter had impetigo in her nose last year. Impetigo is a small blister or sore caused by staph. The doctor had her on an oral antibiotic and a topical antibiotic that we had to use a Qtip and apply in her nose daily. It went away fairly quickly.
http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_vir...

Also a easily understood article on regular staph:
http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/infections/bacterial_viral...

Although we promote hand washing constantly in our house, kids touch dirty stuff and then touch places on their bodies. Staph is pretty common, especially in kids because of the above stated reason. MRSA (Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) is not as common as regular staph, although lately there's been more MRSA infections than usual. MRSA is a type of staph but has to be treated with a different types of antibiotic than regular staph. Here's a good website that explains the differences and some info on how it's spread and treated.
http://www.mass.gov/dph/cdc/antibiotic/mrsa_about.htm

There are many different kinds of staph. Not all are antibiotic resistant and staph lives everywhere. Having said that, I had staph (not sure what kind) when I was little. Everytime I'd get a cut, I'd get a big puss blister where others would just get a cut and it would heal. The staph was concentrated around my hands and sometimes the blisters would come out of nowhere. Back then, they didn't know as much and since it settled in my hands, well, I spare you their antiquated ways of getting the infection out. ANYWAY... Follow your doctors instructions. People are panicked about staff because of the news about the antibiotic resistant staff. But staph infections are NOT always something to panic about AND are very common and come in many forms.
There are many websites with great info. Good luck.
http://blogs.webmd.com/eye-on-vision/2007/10/wash-hands-b...

I've pretty much learned that once you have staph you keep staph. Go to the drug store or Wally-World and pick up a tube of Ichthamal. (not sure of the spelling) It'll be by the other topical creams in a light green box. My co-worker told me about it and it really works. It smells and looks like tar, but put it on the site when you first notice a boil coming up and cover it with a bandaide and usually by the next day it is draining and going away on its own. But if it gets too bad, don't wait and see a doc ASAP.

Hi T.,

My DH has been hospitalized twice this year due to MRSA. Usually it starts out looking like he was bit by something, like a spider. Sometimes he gets them on his chest, the last time it was on his leg. As soon as I notice any redness on his body I bring it to his attention immediately. Usually he calls his infectious disease doctor, and when caught immediately, back on the antibiotics he goes. The last time he was hospitalized was horrible. He was in so much pain, but didn't express to me how much pain. He grabbed the house phone and jumped in the car and went to the doctor. When I caught up with him he was in the ER and his leg as so RED I couldn't believe it. It didn't end there, and I actually took pics with my cell phone. Don't mess around with staph infections. Good luck.