Family Members of Children Infected with Staph Are More Likely to Be Carriers

Article at a Glance

• Treating family members who are carriers of staph can potentially reduce recurrent infections.
• Not all infected people have symptoms.
• Prevent staph infections by not sharing personal objects like razors and towels, and by keeping toys and household surfaces clean.

As staph infections become more of a concern, a new study shines some light on some effective ways to prevent recurrent infections.

According to the study, family members of children with a staph infection are more likely than the general population to be carriers of the bacteria, even though they may not have any symptoms. The study looked at 609 family members of 183 children who had Staphylococcus aureus and found 53 percent of them also carried the bacteria.

Community acquired methicillin resistant staph (caMRSA) was also found on 21 percent of them. caMRSA is a form a staph that is highly resistant to antibiotics, making it very hard to treat.

Because a person does not need to show any symptoms to infect another person, it is important to identify and treat all colonized household members in order to prevent persistent colonization.

Recurrent infections can also be prevented by not sharing personal objects like razors and towels, and by keeping toys and household surfaces clean. Wounds should be kept covered and always clean your hands after touching somebody else’s wound.