Staph aureus - Two Types

A most dangerous germ

• Staph, "staphyolcoccus"
  • Coccus, "round, sphere-shape"
• Aureus, "golden yellow color"

Two types of staph aureus

1. Hemolytic

• • destroys red blood cells
    • • low red blood cells
      • anemia

2. Non-hemolytic

lysis or lytic, "to cut or break apart"
hemolytic, "cuts red blood cells"

Staph aureus

• often cause
  • skin infections
  • abscesses (zits, pustules)
• can cause
  • pneumonia
  • bone infections
  • heart valve infections

Staphylococcus aureus is present

• Nose, sinus
  • 30% of healthy adults
  • usually temporarily
• Skin
  • 20% of healthy adults
• Higher percentages in
  
  • Hospital workers
  • Hospital patients
• Bloodstream
  • Any site in the body, e.g.
    • surgical infections
    • kidneys, nephritits
    • bones, osteomyelitis
    • heart valves, endocarditis
• Implants, devices
  • mesh surgery
    • hernia repair
  • pacemakers
  • catheters
    • bladder infections
    • kidney infections
    • urine infections
    • UTI
  • ventilation
    • general anesthesia
    • secondary infections
      • Covid-19
      • surgery

--- Reference, Further Reading

Merck Manual,
for the Consumer
Staphylococcus aureus

Contamination?

Very often in lab reports they cite contamination as 'likely' to account for 'unusual' bacteria.
I feel this 'diagnosis of contamination' is used far too often and clouds effective therapy.

Similar in prostate fluids,
a single sample makes
the 'contamination' claim difficult to argue

What I prefer is to collect prostate fluid on subsequent drainage of fluids, then tested in multiple labs.
The same pathogen reported by different labs rules out 'likely' contamination.
Difficult with government controlled medicine confined to limited diagnosis.
It took me a trip to the Philippines to have multiple samples tested in multiple labs.
Then back in Canada my doctor could only accept staph.aureus as actually in my prostate.

I have seen this often when even pap tests list 'contamination' when it is actually not.

Lab results can be misleading and the symptoms should be priority.

--- technical paper comments, cut and paste,

link: PMID: 429538

In this study they took blood samples from multiple sites, confirmed in all samples, making contamination a false claim.

Two types of Staph.aureus

1. Hemolytic, breaks down red blood cells
2. Non-Hemolytic, does not break down red cells

• heme hēm
      n.    The deep red, nonprotein, ferrous component of hemoglobin, C34H32FeN4O4.
      n.    The component of hemoglobin (and other hemoproteins) responsible for binding oxygen,
  consists of an iron ion that binds oxygen and a porphyrin ring that binds the globin molecules;
  one heme molecule binds one molecule of oxygen.
      n.    a complex red organic pigment containing iron and other atoms to which oxygen binds
• -lytic a combining form meaning "breaking down,"

Net result of hyemolytic bacteria

• loss of oxygen to body
• anemia,
  • pale,
  • blue lips
• no blood to feet

As shown in Fig. 2, both isolates appeared to be equally virulent; recovery of each from the kidneys was essentially the same at each time interval. Similar results were obtained for CFU per liver and CFU per spleen.

In all cases, there was no transformation from one form to another in infected mice:

i.e., mice initially infected with the hemolytic isolate had only hemolytic organisms isolated at subsequent culture; the same  was true for nonhemolytic organisms.

The claim of 'contamination' is disproven

J Clin Microbiol. 1979 Jan; 9(1): 23–27.
PMCID: PMC272951
PMID: 429538

Two forms of Staphylococcus aureus in blood of patients with staphylococcal sepsis.

D M Musher, R E Baughn, and E J Young

Abstract

Two distinctly different and stable forms of Staphylococcus aureus were isolated from the blood of each of two patients with staphylococcal sepsis. In each case, one form was hemolytic and the other nonhemolytic, although both had the same biochemical reactions, phage types, and antibiotic susceptibilities, and both were virulent for mice. Variant forms of S. aureus may be selected in vivo by host factors and may be responsible for causing and/or perpetuating infection.

Case Studies

Case 1. This 49-year-old chronic alcoholic was brought to the Veterans Administration Hospital because of fever and confusion. 

Case 2. A 19-year-old heroin user with a bicuspid aortic valve was hospitalized because of fever, headache, arthralgias, and malaise of 4- days duration.

Full text

Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version.

Get a printable copy (PDF file) of the complete article (814K).

Links to PubMed are also available for Selected References.