title: The spectrum of cutaneous infection in diabetic patients with hepatitis C virus infection: a single-center study from egypt.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatitis-C virus (HCV) infection and diabetes mellitus (DM) have a significant association with skin disorders.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess the impact of HCV infection on the pattern of cutaneous infections among diabetic patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective study included diabetic patients who attended Al-Hussein University hospital, Cairo during the period from 2008 to 2010. Patients were examined for skin infections, and investigated for HCV infection.
  
  
  METHODS
  SPSS (version 11.5).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study included 163 patients (102 males and 61 females) with a mean age of 46.2 ± 4.83 years. Ninety five patients (58.3%) were HCV+ve (group A) while 68 patients (41.8%) were HCV-ve (group B). Skin infections in group A included fungal (48.4%), viral (26.3%), bacterial (22.1%) and parasitic (3.2%) while in group B, the spectrum included bacterial (41.2%), fungal (39.7%), viral (11.7%) and parasitic (7.4%). Onychomycosis was the commonest infection in group A (25.2%) compared with folliculitis in group B (19.1%). Cutaneous infections in HCV+ patients were more characterized by increased severity, aggressive course, resistance to treatment and rapid relapse.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HCV infection has a significant impact in increasing and changing the spectrum of skin infections in diabetic patients. Severe and resistant infections in diabetics could be an important sign of HCV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mohamed A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: El-Khalawany
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Ali M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Mahmoud
keywords: Diabetes; hepatitis; infection; onychomycosis