Antibiotics are most commonly used to treat bacterial infections. Appropriately used, they significantly shorten the duration and severity of disease, and have dramatically helped increase life expectancy in the last century. However, antibiotic use is not without risks. These include (but are not limited to): Allergic Reactions: Allergic reactions such as hives (see picture) and swelling […]
What is MRSA?
MRSA, or Methicillin-resistant Staph aureus, is a bacterial infection which is becoming more frequent worldwide, largely due to the overuse of antibiotics. What makes it problematic is that many common and widely prescribed antibiotics, such as amoxicillin and cephalexin, do not successfully treat it. Incidence is increasing both in hospitals and health care facilities, as […]
How to Treat a Boil
A skin abscess, or “boil”, is a walled off collection of pus created by the body to fight off an infection, usually bacterial. Location of the boil on the body dictates what kind of bacteria is causing the infection, with staph and strep the most common types. Frequently, a boil will develop from a fluid […]