Best treatments for staphylococcal infections (staph infection)

Understanding staphylococcal infections

Staphylococcus (staph) is a group of bacteria with more than 30 types; a type called Staphylococcus aureus causes most infections (MedlinePlus). The bacterium is commonly carried in the nose and on the skin of about 30% of people (CDC). Skin infections are the most common form and can look like pimples or boils; they may be red, swollen, and painful, sometimes with pus or other drainage (MedlinePlus, CDC). Staph can also cause more serious illness, including a bloodstream infection (bacteremia), which can lead to sepsis, as well as bone infections, endocarditis (an infection of the inner lining of the heart chambers and valves), pneumonia, food poisoning, and toxic shock syndrome (MedlinePlus). Some staph infections, such as MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), are resistant to many antibiotics (MedlinePlus). To diagnose, a provider does a physical exam, asks about symptoms, and may order a culture using a skin scraping, tissue sample, stool sample, or throat or nasal swabs (MedlinePlus). Treatment is antibiotics; an infected wound may be drained, and bone infections sometimes require surgery (MedlinePlus). This is general information, not medical advice.

Frequently asked

What is the best medication for staph infection?

staph infection is staphylococcal infections. There isn't a single "best" medication for everyone — The first-line approach depends on the type of infection. Per the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) 2011 MRSA guideline (as summarized in American Family Physician), simple abscesses or boils may be managed with incision and drainage alone, and antibiotics are added for features such as severe or rapidly progressing disease, signs of systemic illness, associated comorbidities or immunosuppression, very young or very old age, abscesses in areas difficult to drain, or failure to respond to drainage. For outpatient community-associated MRSA skin and soft-tissue infections, oral options the guideline lists include clindamycin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, doxycycline, minocycline, and linezolid. For serious or complicated MRSA infection, intravenous vancomycin is recommended. The treating clinician individualizes drug choice, route, and duration based on the infection site, severity, culture and susceptibility results, and the individual patient.. Compare every option ranked above by our independent recall-safety rating (not an efficacy measure); this is general information, not medical advice.

What treats staphylococcal infections?

Our catalog lists 34 products that may treat staphylococcal infections, based on NIH RxClass (MED-RT “may treat”) drug-classification data — not the verbatim FDA label. They're rated where FDA recall-safety data exists; the current top-rated option is bethkis.

What is the best-rated treatment for staphylococcal infections?

By our independent recall-safety rating — not an efficacy measure — bethkis ranks highest among the products we list for staphylococcal infections. Always consult a professional.

How are these treatments ranked?

By our independent score, currently based on FDA regulatory recall-safety data (the methodology blends additional sources as they come online). See the How we rate page.

What types of drugs treat staphylococcal infections?

Treatments for staphylococcal infections span FDA drug classes including aminoglycoside antibacterial, lincosamide antibacterial, rifamycin antibacterial, oxazolidinone antibacterial, penicillin-class antibacterial. Compare every option side by side, ranked by independent rating, above.

Treatment associations are derived from NIH RxClass (MED-RT “may treat”) drug-classification data — not the verbatim FDA label. This is general reference, not medical advice — always consult a licensed professional.