What is Staphylococcus aureus in blood?

Staphylococcus aureus (staph) is a germ found on people’s skin. Staph can cause serious infections if it gets into the blood and can lead to sepsis or death. Staph is either methicillin-resistant staph (MRSA) or methicillin-susceptible staph (MSSA).

Can staph be alpha hemolytic?

Staph aureus produces alpha toxin which typically causes wide zones of beta (complete) hemolysis.

Is staph aureus in blood a contaminant?

1. Don’t ignore it – Staphylococcus aureus isolated from a blood culture is never a contaminant. All patients with S. aureus in their blood should be treated with appropriate antibiotics and evaluated for a source of infection.

What type of hemolysis is Staphylococcus aureus?

Staphylococcus aureus is a common pathogen causing both hospital and community-acquired infections. Hemolysin is one of the important virulence factors for S. aureus and causes the typical β-hemolytic phenotype which is called complete hemolytic phenotype as well.

How is Staphylococcus aureus treated in the blood?

aureus bacteremia should be treated with at least 2 weeks of antibiotic therapy. According to consensus guidelines, patients with uncomplicated S. aureus bacteremia (Box 1) may be treated with 2 weeks of antibiotic therapy. All other patients should be treated with at least 4 weeks of antibiotic therapy.

How do you treat staph infection in the blood?

Antibiotics commonly prescribed to treat staph infections include certain cephalosporins such as cefazolin; nafcillin or oxacillin; vancomycin; daptomycin (Cubicin); telavancin (Vibativ); or linezolid (Zyvox).

What does hemolysis on blood agar mean?

the breakdown of red blood cells
Hemolysis (from Greek αιμόλυση, meaning ‘blood breakdown’) is the breakdown of red blood cells. The ability of bacterial colonies to induce hemolysis when grown on blood agar is used to classify certain microorganisms. This is particularly useful in classifying streptococcal species.