Top 6 Ways to Deal with Staph Infection in Baby’s Diaper Area!

On: December 24, 2019

Staph is a type of bacteria that occurs harmlessly on the surface of the skin, and it is common in places like genitals, mouth, anus, and nose. However, when there is an opening on the skin, then staph can enter the wound and cause infection. In most cases, it causes skin infection, which can be treated with antibiotics. Staph infection was first reported about forty years ago.

Most skin infections are caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Besides skin infection, it can release poisons, which can lead to toxic shock syndrome or food poisoning.

In babies, staph can cause inflammation of the skin around the diaper area. The diaper infection is commonly referred to as diaper dermatitis. Any baby can get diaper inflammation, and a child is at a higher risk of contracting diaper infection when:

Your baby has diarrhea
You do not change your baby’s diapers often
You are giving your child some antibiotics, or you are using medicines while breastfeeding.

The skin infection by staph can lead to a variety of skin conditions such as:

Scalded skin syndrome
Cellulitis
Folliculitis
Boils and
Impetigo

These skin infections are not very contagious, but the causative bacterium is infectious. The causative bacteria can be transmitted from one person to another through skin contact and through contaminated surfaces or objects.

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Symptoms

You can know when your child has a staph infection when you see the following:

Swelling around the diaper area
Increase in body temperature
A wound that does not heal
Yellowish colored scabs
Heat and redness around the infected area.
Boils – also known as furuncle are swollen, painful red lumps on the skin around the diaper area. These lumps are usually filled with pus, and they grow bigger by day and finally burst. When these lumps occur, they can cause your baby’s body temperature to increase.
Impergo – is a superficial skin infection usually around the face, feet, and hands. It starts as a small pimple and then grows into a crust.
For kids under five years, the infection can lead to rashes and sometimes blisters. As the blisters grow, they burst and become raw and red like a burn. Such kind of infection needs to be attended medically as soon as possible.

Staph infection can spread from one person to another via touching contaminated areas, touching different parts of the body with dirty hands, from mother to child by touching the diapers of the baby with infected hands.

Controlling staph infection in babies

The following are some of the control measures that you can use to reduce the chances of staph infection:

1. Laundering soiled clothing

The baby’s garment during an infection should be washed with hot water and appropriate detergent. After washing them, ensure that you dry them in a hot drier to help eliminate any bacteria that might spread the infection. Also, you can use bleaching chlorine, which will work as a disinfectant.

Besides that, the most effective method of eliminating bacteria is an increase in temperature. In addition to that, using an oxygenating agent such as bleach is known to reduce bacterial growth. However, the bleaching agent that you use ensure that it is safe for your child so that it will not worsen the infection.

2. Cleanliness

The environment plays a role in the growth of bacteria. Therefore, ensure that you observe not only good personal hygiene but also the surrounding. If there are surfaces where your baby frequently touches, ensure that they are clean. Also, ensure that those personal effects that come into contact with your baby’s skin are neat.

Disinfect and clean the environment around your baby, which might possibly enhance the infection. Where possible, use a piece of clothing between your child’s body and the surface around your child. When you use a piece of clothing, your baby’s skin and the surface will reduce new infections. Also, if there is any piece of clothing that your baby cannot use, discard it adequately.

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3. Cover the inflamed area

All skin infections, more especially if it produces pus, should be adequately covered with clean clothing. Covering the infected area will help prevent the spread of rashes to other parts of the body. Besides that, it helps to avoid contaminating everything around the baby.

However, ensure that in the process of covering your baby’s inflamed area, you do not touch it with bare hands because that way, you can carry the bacteria to another part of the body. Also, ensure that all the infected diapers that you change your baby are well disposed of. Proper disposal of diapers will help to prevent contamination of the baby products or potential spreading to other children around.

4. Avoid sharing baby accessories

Instruct all in your home to avoid sharing the personal accessories of the baby. Ensure that baby accessory such as skin lubricant, towel, and skim balm is not shared with anyone else. It is essential to avoid sharing personal body items because they might contain the bacteria which might be transferred to another child.

Besides that, ensure that you do not share the baby’s bathing soap. It is advisable to set aside a bathroom soap for your baby alone so as to minimize infections. If other children must handle the infected baby’s personal items, then ensure that they use detergents to prevent the spreading of the bacteria.

5. High hygienic standards

The spread of staph is accelerated with poor hygiene. To prevent the spread of the infection to other parts of the body, ensure that you observe high hygienic standards. Ensure that you wash your hands with soap and water before handling the baby.

If you do not have water readily available, then ensure that you use an alcohol-based water-less hand sanitizer so as to prevent the spread of the bacteria.

Also, after changing your baby’s diapers, ensure that you wash your hands. You can either wash your hands with water and soap or with alcohol-based detergent.

Apart from that, ensure that all those who will handle your baby observe the same hygienic standards. Also, ensure that they do not have skin to skin contact with the baby to reduce any chances of spreading the bacteria.

In addition to that, since staph infection occurs when there is a break on the skin surface, ensure that the skin of your baby is kept clean at all times. Keeping your baby’s skin clean and intact is an excellent way to prevent staph infection to your child.

6. Topical antimicrobial ointments

There are several antimicrobial agents that you can use to control the staph infection. These antimicrobial acts by altering the bacterial synthesis of tRNA, which lead to the inhibition of protein synthesis. Some topical antimicrobial agents are meant for treating staph skin infection. These topical ointments can cure a skin infection.

Also, due to the development of resistance to some antimicrobial drugs, there are ointments that have been developed that have the ability to inhibit the protein synthesis of the 50s ribosomal subunit. A topical cream such as retapamulin** has been approved for the treatment of staph infection. This antimicrobial ointment has been found effective within 28 days of applying it to the infected area.
** Please always consult your physician before buying/using and medical ointments or drugs. We are not liable for any allergies or adverse outcomes.

Besides that, the use of bleach, such as sodium hypochlorite, has been found to be effective against staph infection. The use of bleach as an inhibiting factor against S. aureus has been used for decades, and it is very effective. In addition to that, you can soak your baby in bleach water for 15 minutes, and it will help to fight the infection. Since bleach is readily available and is inexpensive, you can use bleach baths on your baby to help in the decolonization of the S. aureus. In addition to that, you can soak the affected area in a bleach bath, and it will help to kill the microbes.

Recurring staph infection in the nose

Staph is found in most parts of the skin, including the nose. For this reason, a staph infection in the nose is common. There are three main kinds of nasal staph infections; they are:

Folliculitis – This is the infection of more than one hair follicle of your nose.
Boils – this is also known as furuncles, which are the infection of the hair follicle in the nose. When the boil grows and burst, it will release pus.
Nasal vestibulitis – this is the infection of the front area of the nasal cavity. It is usually characterized by nasal bleeding and crust formation.

Symptoms of nasal staph infection

The following are some of the signs of staph infection in the nose:

Fever
Redness of the nose
Crust formation
Soreness or pain around the nose
Swelling of the nasal cavity
Slight nose bleeding
Lesions that ooze pus or watery fluids

If you get any of the above signs, it is vital to get a confirmation of whether it is a staph infection or not. You can visit the nearest health facility to get tested.

It is crucial to get tested because it will help to determine whether your disease is caused by a resistant strain or not. A resistant strain requires a different kind of treatment because the standard medicine will not help.

The nose is an excellent breeding ground for staph because it contains food for the growth of the bacteria, and the environment is conducive. Once you have a staph infection in your nose, you can treat it with the help of either antibiotic or using topical ointments or both. Most importantly, once you are prescribed an antibiotic for the staph infection, ensure that you use the full dose. Even if you start feeling better, finish the full dose. This is critical if you do not kill all the bacteria that infected you, then you will make them resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance by staph is a severe problem in the healthy industry currently.

Also, if you get a nasal boil due to staph infection, do not pop the boil on your own. This is crucial because it will help to prevent spreading the bacterial infection to other parts.

Treating Staph Infection

Most of the skin infections caused by staph can be treated at home because it is not serious. The following are some of the simple staph infection treatments:

Use pain killers such as acetaminophen. It will help to ease the pain caused by the infection until it goes away. Follow the instructions given on how to use the drug.
Soak the infected area in warm water. Alternatively, you can place a warm moist cloth on the affected area. If you opt to use warm clothing, then ensure that you place the clothing on the infected area once two to three times. After you are done, make sure that you wash the piece of clothing with hot water and soap. Also, ensure that you dry it in a hot drier to kill any bacteria on the cloth.
Frequent change of diapers. Ensure that you change the diapers as soon as it becomes wet. Also, during the night, if your baby wets the diaper, you can change then to avoid the staph infection.
Avoid using diapers for some. During the day when the baby is playing, you can let him be without diapers for some time. The free time allows the infected area to get fresh air, which will help improve the infection.
Use antibiotics that are ideal for treating staph infection
Put ointment on the diaper area where the infection occurred. There are some topical ointments that are designed to fight staph skin infection.

Can you go to school with a staph infection?

go to school with a staph infection_smartmommies.in

The major challenge that is associated with staph infection is the development of resistance against antimicrobial drugs. For this purpose, it is difficult to treat some strains of staph. In a community setting such as a school, it might be challenging to treat a staph infection.

Therefore, there is a need to take precautions when you have a staph infection. There are some preventive measures that have been put in place so as to reduce the chances of spreading the disease in such social areas.

Some of the preventive measures include:

(i) Screening

The school can take an active role in screening the students from time to time to know any students with skin infections. It is generally considered that any skin infection in a school setup is a serious threat to other students. Therefore, serious preventive measures should be put in place to prevent further infection.

Generally speaking, a staph is not transferred by sharing a classroom. However, when the students come into contact with one who is infected with staph, transmission can occur. Therefore, if you have a staph infection, if possible, avoid going to school until the infection has been treated.

(ii) Do not get involved in games

When you have a skin infection, even if you have covered the wound, you should not get involved in school games. This is because as you play, the bandage can dislodge during playing, and if you come into contact with other students, you can infect them. Therefore, if you have any wound, wait until you heal fully before you can get involved in any physical activities to avoid affecting other students. However, if you have an injury and you want to take part in games that do not require you to come into contact with other students, then you can do so. Games such as weight-lighting and running, which does not require skin contact with others, are safe to get involved.

(iii) Do not share personal items

As a student, you should not share your personal grooming items with other students if you have a skin infection. Avoid sharing personal items such as towels, sports equipment, razor, uniform, skin lubricant, among others. Avoid sharing anything that might have come into contact with your skin. Also, avoid sharing even toiletries such as bar soap. Instead, you should use disinfectants to disinfect your hands to limit the spread of the bacteria.

(iv) Awareness

The school management should inform students and parents regarding the preventive as well as precautionary measures to take to avoid spreading the bacteria. Some of the ways that the bacteria can be spread in a school setup include the following:

Sharing cosmetics
Poor personal hygiene such as not washing hands after using the toilet
Physical skin contact
Poor environmental cleanliness such as washrooms and sport rooms
Sharing sports equipment such as sports protective gear
Sharing personal hygiene items such as towels

Top 6 Ways to Deal with Staph Infection in Baby’s Diaper Area!

Symptoms