Diagnosis & Treatments

Viewing bacteria culturing dish Staph infections of the skin are often diagnosed by appearance of the infected area. More serious internal staph infections often require culturing of samples to determine the presence and specific strain of staph.

Skin infections may be treated with topical antibiotic cream and/or oral antibiotics depending upon the severity of infection. If abscesses are present, they will likely be drained. Serious or life threatening infections are treated with IV antibiotics. If the bacteria are cultured for diagnosis, the susceptibility of the particular staph strain to various antibiotics will be tested to determine the most effective treatment.

If the infection is associated with an indwelling device such as a catheter or surgical implant, antibiotic treatment alone may not successfully eradicate the bacteria. If this is the case, the indwelling device may be removed and replaced.