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Doctors Lounge - Infections Answers
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| endee83
- Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:30 am |
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My friend (who has or has had golden staph) has a pet snake (non-venomous but it was wild before he claimed it as a pet). I held the pet snake & it bit me. It also bites him all the time too. Is it possible to pass on golen staph in this way? Should I be tested or is it a waste of time?
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| John Kenyon, CNA
- Fri May 15, 2009 9:04 pm |
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 Hello --
It is not impossible to pass staph via a snakebite, but it isn't the most popular vector for it. Some snakes, in the wild, can harbor bacteria in the mouth at least temporarily, but a domesticated snake probably wouldn't maintain that status, since the infection won't go systemic in a reptile. Still, because your friend is now known to be infected with staph, you've been exosed as he is currently a carrier. A huge proportion of the general population are either colonized, infected, carriers or a combination of the above, so, having been exposed to your friend on a presumably regular basis, whether the friend's infection is respiratory or on the skin, you probably should be tested just because you've been exposed. You may not develop the infection yourself, but you can at least take precautions, if you do have it, to keep from sharing it with others. And I don't think I'd blame the snake. :)
Hope this is helpful. Good luck to you. Please follow up here as needed.
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