title: Chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis in a 6-year-old boy.
abstract: Chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC) is a complex disorder characterized by persistent or recurrent candidal infections of the skin, nails and/or mucous membranes. A familial occurrence has been reported in some instances, suggesting a genetic predisposition. CMC has also been suggested to be associated with a selective defect in T cell-mediated immunity to Candida antigens. Reports of cases in Asians are rare. We report a case of CMC in a 6-year-old boy with chronic candidal infection since 7 months of age. The patient presented with deficient cell-mediated immunity and decreased natural killer cells. This case highlights the need for detailed studies for evaluating the T-cell immunity in patients with chronic candial infection.
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy, Asthma and Rheumatology, Department of Pediatrics, Chang Gung Children's Hospital and Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Shih-Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.forename: Ching-Hsiung
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Tsao
authors.forename: Li-Chen
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chun-Chieh
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.forename: Ko-Huang
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lue
authors.forename: Jing-Long
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D002175:Candida; D002178:Candidiasis, Chronic Mucocutaneous / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male