staph stuff-- don't worry... no photos

Anyone who has been following the blog for a while knows that we've had quite a run of staph in our house for over a year. It started when Yves came in with it in 2010 and since then so has Prisca, Sanndi, Felecia, Anndavid (who no longer works with us), Nia, Josiah, Hugues, and yours truly.

I have personally had a staph infection (manifesting itself as an abscess or boil) five times this past year. Yves has had probably the same number. Hugues had it twice. So it would APPEAR that at least some of us are colonized with it. I think the statistic I read said that about 20% of people are colonized with staph-- essentially meaning that they (we?) are carriers for it.

Normally that's not a problem, but given the right wound, scratch, clogged pore, pimple, ingrown hair-- anything really-- and a weakened immune system... well, you might have a problem on your hands.

So how did I get this particular infection?

I have a guess.

The first time I had staph in my pit was shortly after starting to use a new "clinical strength" deodorant. (Dude, have I mentioned that Haiti is HOT???) It was always really hard to rub on/wash off and about a week later I had the lump in my pit. I think the deodorant clogged the pores in my pit and then got infected. This one drained on it's own. I took antibiotics-- no prob. Fast forward several weeks later-- I likely was still using the same razor when not one but two bumps started forming in my pit. (Don't judge how long I use a razor-- they are Venus and can last a long time.) One boil hurt (like crazy). One didn't. The one that did ballooned up HUGE-- growing to 5 times its size over a 24 hour period.

So, there are two possible theories--
Theory one is that it's the same strain of staph that is in our house which is NOT mrsa. (At least when Josiah was cultured that's what it said.) Coming off of two months of really turbulent and emotional situations with one of our kids + traveling, etc... probably weakened my immunity making the infection really grab hold.

Theory two is that this was not the same strain (because it didn't act like any of the other infections we've had in our house to date). We've been told that this is probably the more likely scenario as this infection acted like a mrsa.

Now, since we are talking US medicine, that *should* be easy enough to find out. Cultures can tell us which bacteria are present. HOWEVER, by the time I reached the states for said cultures to be done, it was after 48+ hours of IV antibiotics. So, last I heard, the cultures have not grown anything. (They then repeated later in the week when they drained another pocket.) So, we might not get an answer as to what the actual bug was. The good news is that we know what meds work and I will be taking some back with me... JUST in case.

We are having a big decolonizing "party" when I get home-- scrubbing everyone with surgical cleanser and bactrobanning them in their noses. Bleach, lovely bleach, for all the sheets, towels, floors, sinks, doorknobs, toilets, showers, dishes... I am even thinking of running a water/bleach rag over our mattresses and sunning them.

Words cannot describe how nasty staph is. I have hit my limit and I want it out!

Would you pray that we could get this nasty bacteria under control in our home???