Test Your Knowledge

The signs and symptoms of staph infections may vary, based on the condition caused and its severity. Staph infections frequently involve minor skin problems, such as pimples or boils.  

Staph infections of the skin may involve symptoms such as rash, blisters, boils and sores that deepen and become ulcers. Patients with scalded skin syndrome may experience skin peeling off in large sheets.

Most staph infections, both of the skin and other systems may also include fever. Other common symptoms of infection include chills, shaking, fatigue, weakness, nausea and vomiting. Each body system produces characteristic symptom, such as diarrhea for food poisoning or coughing for pneumonia.

Some of the most serious symptoms may occur when staph infects the bloodstream or heart. There, it may produce fever, chills, rapid heart rate and breathing, and eventually shock.