Thursday, November 06, 2008

Staph Infection - Part 1

Last week I blogged about Jack getting a horrendous rash on his bum after I bought him some cartoon character underpants and didn't wash them before he wore them for the first time. The underpants contained some kind of irritant (formaldehyde maybe) that really hurt him. I washed the offending undies and tried them once more but they irritated him again so I've chucked them out and bought cotton tighty-whities. The original & best obviously.

This last couple of days I've noticed a red lump on his bum and it was so sore he couldn't sit down, so today I took him to the docs. My poor boy had to lay on his belly with his head on my arm while the doctor lanced and drained the red area and took samples from it. He screamed bloody murder and cried his heart out. It was horrible to watch. The doctor said he has a staph infection and he's sent the samples away for testing to see which staph it is. I'm obviously scared to death that it's MRSA and hoping it's any one of the other types of staph. He's now on antibiotics and cream and bath treatments and the doctor's keeping in touch.

If any mum reads this blog, take note & please don't buy undies with paint or dyes or anything that might irritate tender skin. Stick to plain cotton and wash it before you use it.

WHO in their right mind thought it was a good idea to put harmful chemicals on kids underwear???? I know the undies didn't cause the staph - but they caused a skin abrasion that got infected with staph. I don't know where the staph came from but we're now paranoid about washing hands and towels.

Sorry to bore you with this, but it's worrying me to death ...

5 comments:

Kelsey said...

Oh I hope it clears up soon - I would be nervous too. We've never had that problem with Harper's underwear, but Michael seems to have pretty sensitive skin, so I'll keep it mind for the future.

Strawberry Jam Anne said...

Sorry to hear about your boy Pam - do hope it clears up soon. Can understand your concerns though.

A x

Fredsueand me said...

hey pam. hope jack is feeling better. you shouldnt worry yourself sick over the staphylococcus it is a very common bacteria and does not necessarily lead to MRSA. and even if it did it should not worry you. MRSA is only a problem when it manifests as a blood infection and the likely hood of that is very very very unlikely (we have had 3 cases in over a year in our hospital trust and those people would have been old and very ill with lots of problems). MRSA lives on the skin of many people and never affects us, i have had it 3 times in my nose (we get tested at work) If it is the case he will get antibiotics and topical antimicrobial (e.g a microbe killing creme or dressing) trust me pam its nothing to worry bout i see it every day. the trouble is the media would have us believe we are all going to spontaneously combust from infection and its all rubbish you know what a fear culture we live in especially in america.
Anyway give him a kiss from us. take care. lee x x x x

Mommy Daisy said...

Oh man, that poor little guy. Just hearing what he went through made me cringe. I hope he's feeling better soon.

Pam said...

Kelsey: Yes, keep this in mind for Michael
SJA: I loved your India posting ad can'r wait to read more!
Lee: THANK YOU. I secretly hoped you would leave a message to put my mind at ease and you did. Funny - when we were kids we never thought a boil on your bum was life threatening did we?
Hey MD: It made me cringe too and the docor made me look - yuk!