Staph infections are becoming a serious problem in many states and schools around the United States, and Skyline College students should take proper precautions to prevent the staph threat from appearing on campus.

Although staph infections currently are not a problem on Skyline’s campus, there are people who have been affected by the infection through loved ones who have had it.

Skyline College Professor of Speech Communication Phyllis Taylor’s husband Dennis (whose last name was not given to ensure anonymity) suffered through 53 days in the ICU with a staph infection.

he cause of Taylor’s husband’s staph infection was a small scrape he obtained two weeks before being admitted into the hospital. The wound was not properly cleaned and became infected.

According to Taylor, her husband went to work the whole day before he was admitted into the hospital. At 2 a.m. the next day he was rushed to the hospital.

Within 24 hours of being admitted to the hospital, his kidneys stopped working.

After testing his white blood cell count, doctors discovered that Taylor’s white blood cells had dangerously escalated within the 24 hours that had elapsed since they diagnosed him with a staph infection.

“Within three days in the hospital they prepared me for his death,” says Taylor.

Taylor was told that staph infections invade the body and go for the most vulnerable parts, which in her husband’s case was a decrepit hip. His hip got so infected that it had to be temporarily removed.

After the infection attacked his hip, it migrated to his spine, then to his brain.

Thankfully, Taylor’s husband survived. He was treated for six months with intravenous antibiotics. He did not have MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant staph infection.

“I found out that you can become devastatingly ill in 24 hours,” says Taylor. “We see everything differently. That sounds corny, but it’s completely true. It changed my world.”

Taylor wants to stress that the site of the infection can be the smallest cut, and that even the tiniest scrape should be cleaned immediately and taken seriously.

She also says that if she or her husband notice any cuts that look the slightest bit infected, they go to the Emergency Room immediately.

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According to , the Public Information Officer/Spokesperson of the San Mateo County Health Department, MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a staph infection that is resistant to antibiotics such as methicillin, oxacillin, penicillin, and amoxicillin. Although it is resistant to those antibiotics, Thames says that it is still treatable with other antibiotics if it is caught in time.

Staph infections are very common and come in the form of bacteria. 25 to 30 percent of people in the United States carry staph infections in their nose but remain perfectly healthy.

Staph infections are commonly spread in school settings due to the physical contact of sports teams. Often times the sweat and dirt get spread through open wounds.

Mild staph infections can be easily treated.

“Some infections will just go away on their own if treated properly,” says Thames. “Some infections are treated by draining, which should only be done by a doctor. Other infections are treated with antibiotics.”

Thames also said that staph infections can be prevented if proper precautions are taken.

To learn more about staph infections, log on to www.smhealth.org/MRSA.

Proper precautions to take to prevent getting a staph infection according to Beverly Thames:

• Clothing and towels should not be shared. • Cuts and scrapes should be cleaned out immediately and covered with a band-aid.• Wash hands frequently.