Staph....dammit!

Had my 37 week appt. on Wed and was told I had GBS (which I am not at all worried about) and Staph........
I can't find any threads on staph....so was wondering what I need to know about it for pregnant women? I know everyone carries it, but not sure about those who it actually infects....
As I used to work in Aged Care I asked if I would have got it from work, but was told no. I asked if it was MRSA and she said no...but having just googled 'what is staph?', the medical sites say it IS MRSA? What's the go?
My midwife said I didn't need any injections for it now or during labour, so that's nice.
Any info would be appreciated though.
Ta.

I got Golden Staff when i went from the Melbourne Hospital to my hospital. I had totake drugs for it ( i couldn't tell you what they were) I broke out in a rash everywere. I heard that once you have had it you have to tel lthem everytime you have to go into hospital
Hope you can find some real good info.

ith my last caeser, on day 2 postop, i was sick, weaker than before, and feverish.
My would broke down BADLY, so they took swabs, yet on day 5 let me go home without the results.
The very next day, 2 midwives turned up at my home (16kms from town) with antibiotics, and dressings, turns out my wound had staph. For 2 weeks they came daily to dress it for me, they were a true lifesaver, and from a public hospital too!!
This time before i have the op, i am going to insist they start the antibiotics straight away, as i dont want to go through that again. It was horrid.

Hi Choclatecatty,

I’ve spent a few hours searching various databases for you to no avail. There are some papers about the treatment of this bacteria in neonates and even one on how it is used to detect hip dysplasia – but nothing on it’s use in pregnancy. So I turned to my texts. Again nothing other than general info on the bacteria. I’m sure it’s stuff you already know but have included it anyway. It’s by no means a comprehensive – just a summary. I will reference so you can look it up if you have access to the texts I consulted.

Staph is a gram-positive bacteria surviving in areas of low moisture and high osmotic pressure (Microbiology and infection control for health professionals by Bishop and Lee 2002). This resource also states that staphylococci is often found in salted and preserved meats such as bacon (so it is highly possible you did not get it at work). This bacteria is responsible for a large number of illnesses including scarlet fever, pneumonia, wound and throat infections.
From another of my texts (Medical-surgical nursing by Black and Hawks, 2001) states this bacteria is often found on the skin and in the nasopharynx with the most important means of transmission being via the hands of health care workers with hand washing combined with principles of asepsis and proper use of gloves as the best methods of preventing nosocomial infections.


I hope this helps a little.

MG

OH GREAT!!
So it is highly likely that one of the nurses, or doctors doing my op,or in the first 24 hour post op, were not very hygenic with their handwashing etc??, as the swab they take at around 36 weeks (only 2 weeks before my caeser) confirmed that I did not have staph then.
Gee that makes me feel so much better!! lol

I have just emailed the midwifery group I am part of and will hopefully get some more info for you soon! :)

Group B Strep

Lil - it can come from surgical insruments as well. It's such a hard one to keep track of at times. It's one of the reasons us nurses are so intense with hand washing and why we have all these checks in theatre to make sure things are sterilised properly. But unfortunatly as with anything in life, errors happen... Many infections also happen because the natural flora on the skin can actually cause infections in wounds! Infection control is one of my pet things. There is so much to know though!

Love MG

Mother Goose - That is great info - i have never read all about that.

Kel - can you PM me the mail you get back the info

Did they say where the staph was???? When I was pregnant I got an infection under the big toenails which was staph. It is also (as MG said) part of the normal flora on the skin of some people. Where it is may be more important than the fact that you have it.

Here's what I heard:

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GBS is a different organism from Staph. Not so long ago we used to 'anti-staph' the babies post first bath and day 3 using chlorhexidine cream, it apparently no longer is required as the 'staph contamination' is not harmful.

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Staph is a normal flora usually of the skin, upper respiratory tract but also of the genital tract.

Mother goose you sweet thing! Thanks for hunting for info :) (and everyone else!).
I'm guessing it's down below, given that's where the swab was taken from...though my midwife said it would just give me a cold/snotty nose so it could be in my nose?
At least I (kinda) have an excuse for not handling bacon....ugh slimy crap that it is! I shall hold a grudge for life!

WOW, Now my head is realling after reading all that Kelly!!
I have never been told much at all about any of it, just that it is a standard test, ans they will do it 2 weeks before bubs birth.
I think I will stick to my guns anyway, and insist on antibiotics anyway, as I dont want another wound infection again.
Problem is, I am highly allergic to most anitbiotics,,,,,penicillin, vibramycin, erithromycin,,,,but the worst, is bactrim, which give me the whole swollen airways and mouth effect in minutes. So i am limited to Flagyl, and keflex only,,,,,,,,,so as i said, i would prefer to prevent an infection,,,than have to treat one with such limited choices for antibiotics.

Here's some more info Brenda forwarded onto me:

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STAPHYLOCOCCUS
Clinically, the most important genus of the Micrococcaceae family is Staphylococcus. The Staphylococcus genus is classified into two major groups: aureus and non-aureus. S. aureus is a leading cause of soft tissue infections, as well as toxic shock syndrome (TSS) and scalded skin syndrome. It can be distinguished from other species of Staph by a positive result in a coagulase test(all other species are negative).

The pathogenic effects of Staph are mainly asssociated with the toxins it produces. Most of these toxins are produced in the stationary phase of the bacterial growth curve. In fact, it is not uncommon for an infected site to contain no viable Staph cells. The S. aureus enterotoxin causes quick onset food poisoning which can lead to cramps and severe vomiting. Infection can be traced to contaminated meats which have not been fully cooked. These microbes also secrete leukocidin, a toxin which destroys white blood cells and leads to the formation of pus and acne. Particularly, S. aureus has been found to be the causative agent in such ailments as pneumonia, meningitis, boils, arthritis, and osteomyelitis (chronic bone infection). Most S. aureus are penicillin resistant, but vancomycin and nafcillin are known to be effective against most strains.

Of the non-aureus species, S. epidermis is the most clinically significant. This bacterium is an opportunistic pathogen which is a normal resident of human skin. Those susceptible to infection by the bacterium are IV drug users, newborns, elderly, and those using catheters or other artificial appliances. Infection is easily treatable with vancomycin or rifampin.

S.Epidermis: Babies often get pustules which when swabbed contain staph. It causes paronychia & 'sticky eyes' plus impetigo in infants/chidren. Highly contagious & passes quickly between children, good hand-washing is essential. I wouldn't agree that it's harmless babies can get qite sick esp if it affects their umbi& it requires antibiotic therapy.

S. aureus gets into wounds & can become really nasty. You have all heard of MRSA & Golden Staph (which can kill a baby due to septic shock as can Streptococcus).

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Have you thought of taking some In-Liven or Fast-Tract? It might help. I asked Brenda what she thought:

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I may be wrong about this but these products are ingested right ? So I can see how they benefit the gut flora immensely.

But I am not sure how they affect the skin flora, nasal mucosa (where staph is carried ie a noso-comal infection) or the genitals etc.

Do you mean that the general immune system is boosted ? If so then yes they'd be helpful.
More applicble in protecting the mother/baby's gut against the strain of: S. aureus enterotoxin causes quick onset food poisoning which can lead to cramps and severe vomiting. Infection can be traced to contaminated meats which have not been fully cooked.

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I wonder if I am onto something here? Maybe if mothers-to-be were to take this for a while prior to Strep B testing, it could be beneficial as to the result? hmmmm...

Here is my contribution but remember I am not a naturopath or doctor but I have a good handle on general health.

Taking Inliven and fast tract does boost the immune system as it sorts out the gut and unbeknownst to many people is that around 80% of your immune system actually resides in the gut. So, we are on a winner here.

The other part of inliven is that these good bacteria do migrate around the body and therefore start helping out in other areas such as chipping away at cholesterol in blood vessels and generally doing the big clean out.

So, the good bacteria are going to get into the mucosa and do an all round good defence job.

For those that are really interested, there is a CD available where the creator of inliven is interviewed and in plain English he explains what it is and what it can do. if anyone wants one they should let Kelly know and we can get them out to you.

Have ordered some In-Liven :)
A bit excited at the prospect of it, I must say! I hear it can revive one's libido?!!!
Shall let you know what I learn of Staph and pregnancy from my midwife after my check up on Wed.
Thanks for your support :)

Had the check up and we re-did the LVS in case I'd contaminated it (I did it last time, midwife did it this time). She was wondering it if was just in my tissue (groin area) and if it was, then that was not too bad....that I wouldn't have it for life or anything. I guess we'll see.
So not any answers ladies, but if I find out more, I'll let you know!!

No staph for me - I must have contaminated it when I did the first swab.
Yay.

So the staph has gone? Hows the In-Liven going? :)

Aaah, good (I think)...I don't feel like I'm detoxing anything but who knows what's going on inside me?! Could it have gotten rid of any staph I had, you think? Wait, I had the last LVS done before I started In-Liven...
Speaking of In-Liven, I have a question but I'll go to the In-Liven thread...

Someone at my birthing class asked about this last night and the midwife said that the treatment option is ultimatly up to the Ob. She said that some of them will prescribe penecillin as a precaution and others will wait and monitor the baby for signs of infection after the birth. Apparently when it (step) is in the vaginal area, there is a risk that if the baby inhales at the wrong time, they might inhale the bug and thereby contract it (strep). The mid did stress that it is a very rare occurance though hence why most Ob's now prefer to wait to see if the baby shows any sign of infection before prescribing a treatment.
But it is great news that the second swab came back clear for you Choc!

MG :)

Indeedy-do!

Ultimately, the decision of treatment is the mothers :) I have supported a mother who hadn't had a strep test (hospital forgot) so they deemed her positive. She refused ab's on the basis that if she or the baby showed sign of infection then treatment would happen, the Ob admitting the risk is low if positive. Also a mum I am supporting now, same hospital but in the birth centre was asked if she wanted it. The midwife telling her if she had it, and was positive, she would have to be transferred out of the birth centre. She declined the test. No fuss.

Actually, the second LVS swab came back saying it wasn't a 'heavy growth of Strep B' like the first LVS but a 'slight growth'.......maybe the EPO I've been taking has flushed it out? Can that happen? Interesting...

You'd be surprised. Staph is actually a very common form of bacteria that can be found in a lot of places in you're environment inclusing hair, skin flora, pretty much everywhere. GBS I think might be Group B streptococcal which is something which I now have and have been doing some research about. I've been instructed to go straight to hospital as soon as my waters break. They normally give IV antibiotics routinely (normally penicillin although I too am allergic so probably some other sort of broad spectrum) as there is a risk that once your waters break it can travel up to the birth canal to your baby or the baby can contract it when he/she passes through the birth canal. There can be complications in as many as 40-70% of cases for baby but this is mainly with babies born less then 37 weeks or who may be immunocompromised in some way. I only hope that everything goes ok. We've just reached the 37 weeks mark which improves our chances of things being ok.

I suffer from Staph infections all the time. I have one now, and had three all at once not so long ago(but during this pregnancy). I was given antibiotics, but even though they healed a bit, they needed to be lanced and drained - all 3! Staph lives in your nose, everyone has it! They generally don't cause you any harm. I happen to be allergic to my dh's staph. Would you believe it!?! Some of my infections have actually come from my water bottles and cups. If they're not sterilised and cleaned properly, the germs live around the mouth/ pop top of the cup/ water bottle. Hope you find the cause and are free from it soon. Good luck!