Introduction
The incision and drainage method (I&D) is used by doctors as the primary treatment procedure for skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) caused by Staphylococcus aureus (SA). Yet, oral antibiotics have also been shown to produce a positive effect on the reduction of SSTI recurrence (Hogan et al., 2017). This study aims at testing the hypothesis that the combination of oral antibiotics and I&D would eradicate SA colonization and decrease the incidence of recurrent SSTI.
Methods
The researchers invited 383 children with acute, community-onset SSTIs caused by SA, after performing the incision and drainage procedure, 355 participants were given oral antibiotics, varying in the class, dosage, and therapy duration. The majority of the subjects were prescribed various decolonization measures, including body washes with chlorhexidine and diluted bleach baths. During the period of the study, the participants visited the researchers in-person, the personnel collected colonization swabs and asked the volunteers to fill out health-assessment questionnaires.
Results
The participants who were colonized with Staphylococcus aureus at the beginning and received antibiotics were less likely to be colonized on their next visit compared to those who were not prescribed the drugs. The subjects who remained colonized reported more frequently recurrent SSTIs, thus the systemic treatment involving antibiotics and I&D was proven to reduce SA colonization. The antibiotic Clindamycin was discovered to be more effective at eliminating Staphylococcus aureus and preventing recurring instances of SSTIs than TMP-SMX (Hogan et al., 2017).
Conclusions
The current study focused on establishing the effects of an antibiotic treatment on SSTIs caused by Staphylococcus aureus colonization. The majority of the subjects enrolled in the experiment were prescribed antibiotics, I&D, and different decolonization procedures. The results of the study demonstrated that the systemic utilization of antibiotics decreases SA colonization and the recurrence of SSTIs; moreover, the drug clindamycin was found to be more effective than TMP-SMX.
Reference
Hogan, P. G., Rodriguez, M., Spenner, A. M., Brenneisen, J. M., Boyle, M. G., Sullivan, M. L., & Fritz, S. A. (2017). Impact of systemic antibiotics on Staphylococcus aureus colonization and recurrent skin infection. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 66(2), 191–197. Web.