Staph infection is the common name for an infection caused by the Staphylococcus bacteria. These bacteria can be harmless and it can also cause some very serious illnesses. Symptoms of illness caused by Staphylococcus can be so mild that you don’t even know you have and infection and it requires not treatment, to so bad that the infection can easily kill you.

The Greek language is the source of the scientific name for these bacteria – Staphyle: a bunch of grapes, and Kokkos: berries. This means bacteria which looks like either a bunch of grapes or berries when looked at under the microscope.

They are “gram-positive, facultative anaerobic unencapsulated cocci”. Whether this makes you any wiser or not is hard to say, but is looks and sounds very intelligent. If you can get your tongue around this description, the next time you have a wound which goes a little septic, you can say.

What we do need to know however is that there are over 30 varieties of this bacteria, and 20% – 30% of healthy people walk around with this naturally occurring on their skin and inside their noses.