title: Staphylococcus aureus in atopic dermatitis and in nonatopic dermatitis.
abstract: Skin colonization with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) was examined in 30 patients with atopic dermatitis (AD), in 25 patients with nonatopic eczema (NAE) and in 30 individuals as healthy controls (HC). Bacteria growth was examined in aerobic cultures and the population densities per dish were estimated; S. aureus colonization was found in the eczematous skin of 24 of 30 (80%) AD patients and in 13 of 25 (52%) NAE patients (NS, p greater than 0.1). In nonaffected skin S. aureus colonization was found in 19 of 30 (63%) of all AD patients compared with 6 of 25 (24%) in NAE patients and 1 of 30 (3%) in HC, respectively (p less than 0.05). In nonaffected skin, coagulase negative strains of staphylococcus were found in 25 of 30 (84%) controls and in 18 of 25 (72%) NAE patients compared with 12 of 30 (40%) patients with AD. It seems that colonization with S. aureus is not a characteristic feature for atopic dermatitis but is a frequent event in damaged skin; significantly elevated values were also observed in nonatopic eczema. The degree of colonization may depend on the severity and duration of the eczematous lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University Medical Center Steglitz, Free University of Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Masenga
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garbe
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Orfanos
mesh_terms: D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000382:microbiology*; D004485:Eczema / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification