title: A study of skin diseases in dogs and cats. III. III. Microflora of the skin of dogs with chronic eczema.
abstract: The microflora of the skin was studied in 10 dogs with chronic eczema without clinical signs of secondary infection (Table I). The skin surface was swabbed at 7 different sites, making a total of 70 swabs, 25 of which were taken from visibly inflamed areas and 45 from apparently unaffected skin (Table II). Staph. aureus, Staph. epidermidis, micrococci, alpha-hemolytic streptococci, and Acinetobacter spp. were found consistently. Ten different Gram-negative bacteria, 3 different Gram-positive bacteria, and 2 yeasts were found to occur sporadically (Table III). Compared to a group of 10 healthy dogs a more prolific growth of aerobic microorganisms, a greater number of sites carrying Staph. aureus, and a higher recovery of Gram-negative transients were found in dogs with eczema (Table IV--VII). Within the group of dogs with eczema the growth of Staph. aureus was significantly heavier from eczematous skin areas than from clinically normal skin (Table VIII). In dogs with non-infective dermatitides the colonization of the skin by potentially pathogenic microorganisms may have to be considered in the clinical handling of these diseases.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D002415:Cats; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D004285:Dogs; D004485:Eczema / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007507:Therapeutic Irrigation