Impetigo

[lukkbox]

Just a heads up to all those first timers like me who are starting their first tank and learning about all this bacterial colony stuff ... while we are trying to cultivate an environment in our tanks that is beneficial to certain types of bacteria, most of that bacteria is not very friendly to us, and having had my hands in and out of my tank constantly for the last two months and being uneducated about such things i was very ignorant with regards sterilising my hands and tools etc ... cut a long story short i developed a few nasty spots on my face that would not go away and kept weeping a kind of straw coloured yellow fluid so i went to the doctors and he said i have impetigo, which is very contagious but fairly easy to cure, the real risk is of re infection

so noobs listen up!

after having anything to do with your tank always use a bacterial handwash, these are very cheap nowadays and be thorough, you don't need this in your life!

hope this spares another noob like me from suffering from this same mistake in future, honestly i feel like a leper lol

fish on!

 

[DrRob]

Whilst you can culture staph aureus in a fishtank, it's source would be non-aquatic. It's capable of colonising the system but is far more frequently a normal skin commensual. It's presence in marine systems in the wild has even had papers published about it.

Sadly I have to say that it's more likely that you simply cross infected yourself with the impetigo from a small skin break, however your advice on hand gel is very sound, as people will see if they start searching for fish tb infections in humans.

 

[lukkbox]

Whilst you can culture staph aureus in a fishtank, it's source would be non-aquatic. It's capable of colonising the system but is far more frequently a normal skin commensual. It's presence in marine systems in the wild has even had papers published about it.

Sadly I have to say that it's more likely that you simply cross infected yourself with the impetigo from a small skin break, however your advice on hand gel is very sound, as people will see if they start searching for fish tb infections in humans.

im not doubting your reasearch, but my own research reveals this infection is incredibly common amongst new fishtankers

so dont take offence if i have wrongly blamed the fish or their poop, however, the data would suggest this is something all newcomers should be very vigilant about, not just impetigo, but any infection obviously, keep it clean boys n girls!

 

[raptorrex]

im not doubting your reasearch, but my own research reveals this infection is incredibly common amongst new fishtankers

really?
can you give use the research?

first I've heard of this.
and its not something that is posted about here. well much anyway.

I'm quite up on "staph" infection. (commonly known a "impetigo")
being the dad of a kid fitted with a Gastronomy.
we did a risk assessment of our house, including the tank.
nothing came up there.
and despite her messin with the tank to her hearts content, not a single infection has ensued.

I'm with DrRob.
case of cross infection.

 

[lukkbox]

im not doubting your reasearch, but my own research reveals this infection is incredibly common amongst new fishtankers

really?
can you give use the research?

first I've heard of this.
and its not something that is posted about here. well much anyway.

I'm quite up on "staph" infection. (commonly known a "impetigo")
being the dad of a kid fitted with a Gastronomy.
we did a risk assessment of our house, including the tank.
nothing came up there.
and despite her messin with the tank to her hearts content, not a single infection has ensued.

I'm with DrRob.
case of cross infection.

I mean we are in the business of growing bacterial cultures aren't we? and staph is bacteria isn't it? and it's possible for an infected fish bought from a LFS to bring this into your tank isn't it?

yet a quick google search will reveal ponds and aquariums to be the source of a lot of Impetigo cases, so i'm really at a bit of a loss as to why you have taken this contrary stance to good advice?

 

[Chad]

Just a note to those who might not know this...the Dr in DrRob is not just for fun. I'm not saying he's giving medical advice here but lets say when it comes to infection I trust him over any one.

Secondly, I have been keeping fish, frogs, crabs, snakes, etc etc since I was 5 years old and have only once experience any physical illness from my tank and that was an exposure to palytoxin that made me slightly lightheaded and nauseous (I now wear gloves).

That said, if someone feels more comfortable washing their hands frequently then I say go for it but please don't spread unfounded rumors of danger in our hobby. If you have a conversation like this it's expected that you provide evidence of your differing opinion such as links to studies on reputable web sites or direct quotes form books with references. Perhaps that's a pain to do, I know, but it keeps the hobby from getting deluged with even more myths than it already has.

 

[fluttermoth]

I also have been keeping fish for over 30 years, as have my mum, best friend, ex and many other people of my acquaintance, and I've never heard of anyone catching anything either.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm sure it does, but it's very, very rare, and the most common cases nearly always turn out to be not fish tank related, after further investigation.

As always when you're handling any kind of animal, you should ensure you follow good hygiene practices of hand washing ect, and you won't have to worry about cross infections.

 

[MBOU]

Chad, just to clarify, is Palytoxin something to do with corals? Or if I do what many people fail and use google, its more to do with marine tanks and a microalgal bloom if not the original source which is a type soft coral.

But not anything to be worried about for freshwater keepers really, like no need to go out and panic!

Seriously, if anyone is likely to get sick from having their hands in and out of fish tanks, its most likely the poor gits like myself who work in the trade and have hands going in and out of fish tanks every day!!

I'm actually allergic to fish (this includes being stabbed by beligerant catfish apparently!) so maybe i'm a little more careful about what i grab and after a severe reaction to an attack from something in a coral vat that put me in hospital, you wont catch me with my hands in near corals any more as we never worked out who the culprit was! all i know is that it had stinging nematodes that it left in my hand. Urgh!

But tbh I have rubbish skin from having wet hands all the time and often have cuts and rubbish nails and i have my hands in fish tanks every day for the last 5 years bar 2 days a week for this last year and I have never had any kind of illness or infection. I've worked with fish with fish TB and never had that from them either, though do regularly use antibacterial hand gel. Basic hygiene is hardly the most difficult concept.

 

[Chad]

Yes, palytoxin comes from zoanthus, palythoa and protopalythoa. It's deadly in large amounts but my exposure was minor so I just got a little woopsy feeling.

 

[raptorrex]

im not doubting your reasearch, but my own research reveals this infection is incredibly common amongst new fishtankers

really?
can you give use the research?

first I've heard of this.
and its not something that is posted about here. well much anyway.

I'm quite up on "staph" infection. (commonly known a "impetigo")
being the dad of a kid fitted with a Gastronomy.
we did a risk assessment of our house, including the tank.
nothing came up there.
and despite her messin with the tank to her hearts content, not a single infection has ensued.

I'm with DrRob.
case of cross infection.

I mean we are in the business of growing bacterial cultures aren't we? and staph is bacteria isn't it? and it's possible for an infected fish bought from a LFS to bring this into your tank isn't it?

yet a quick google search will reveal ponds and aquariums to be the source of a lot of Impetigo cases, so i'm really at a bit of a loss as to why you have taken this contrary stance to good advice?

as you can tell illnesses of any kind are just not sufficient to even give them more than cursory thought!

answer to your first comment:
NO.
cows and mice are both mammals.
that does not mean you should fear being stepped on by a mouse, does it? (seems like a silly analogy does i know )
as for the second:
I'm not giving "contrary advice", just staph infections are not really seen in fishkeeping.

i'll be honest here.
I'll take the word of the professionals involved, as opposed to something GooGl? says.
if you add that to the experience of those here.
where is the problem?

 

[Tizer]

I guess the OP just has terrible personal hygiene then?

 

[fluttermoth]

No need for personal remarks, Tizer.

 

[Tizer]

Nobody got on his back about calling calling new fish keepers "noobs", i find that rude. I'm just sticking up for all the lovely new fish keepers we have here.

 

[raptorrex]

I guess the OP just has terrible personal hygiene then?

Oh Tizer, even I would have said that more subtly.

 

[DrRob]

OK, this escalated further than I expected it to.

I have a little more time now to fill out my opinion. Impetigo is theoretically possible to catch from an aquarium, but it's presence in aquatic systems in any quantity is worthy of scientific comment and is generally related to contamination such as sewage, it is however a common skin commensal in up to 75% of people. As a result almost all impetigo cases are self infection or contagion from another infected individual. So no it's not bad hygiene Tizer, behave yourself.

The OP's comment, which I agree with however, is about hygiene. Not specifically about impetigo, but there are far more annoying infections such as fish TB you can get from fish tanks, and some nasty toxins from various corals, not to mention the poisonous fish we sometimes keep. Many wear gloves, many use alcohol gel. It's a bit like washing your hands after playing with the guinea pigs, it's annoying, but it's worth doing.