Pediatr Allergy Respir Dis.  2006 Mar;16(1):26-37.

Secondary Skin Infection and Their Sensitivity to Antibiotics in Children's Atopic Dermatitis

• Kim YS
• Lee JH
• Kim ES
• Yang HJ
• Kong DY
• Choi TY
• Pyun BY

Abstract

PURPOSE: Our study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of secondary skin infection in patients with atopic dermatitis and their sensitivity to antibiotics for appropriate choice of antibiotics.
METHODS
We studied skin culture and their sensitivity results for 218 patients who visited to pediatric allergy clinic from June 2003 to August 2004. After determining minimal inhibitory concentrations(MICs) of antibiotics from randomly selected 40 cases of them, we compared the result with previous data.
RESULTS
Age distribution was as follows; 28 cases(12.8%) were under 1 year old, 64 cases(29.4%) were 1 to 3 years old, 63 cases(28.9%) were 4 to 6 years old, and 63 cases (28.9%) were over 7 years old. 121 cases(55.5%) of 218 cases were found to have secondary skin infection. The most common organism was Staphylococcus aureus(S. aureus; 85 cases, 70.2%). The next was Staphylococcus epidermides(S. epidermidis; 22 cases, 18.2%). S. aureus were highly resistant to ampicillin and penicillin, but were relatively highly sensitive to 1st and 2nd generation cephalosporin, gentamicin, and erythromycin. To teicoplanin and vancomycin, they were entirely sensitive. On the other hand, S. epidermidis was highly resistant to 1st generation cephalosporin in addition to ampicillin and penicillin. Moreover, alpha- and beta-hemolytic streptococcus, which were co-infected with S. aureus, showed highly resistance to ampicillin, oxacillin and cephalosporin. In MIC test, methicillin-resistant S. aureus were found in 4 cases.
CONCLUSION
Skin culture, sensitivity test and the appropriate choice of antibiotics might be important to control secondary skin infection and atopic dermatitis.

Keyword

Atopic dermatitis; Secondary skin infection; Staphylococcus aureus; MIC

MeSH Terms

Age Distribution
Ampicillin
Anti-Bacterial Agents*
Child
Child, Preschool
Dermatitis, Atopic*
Erythromycin
Gentamicins
Hand
Humans
Hypersensitivity
Methicillin Resistance
Oxacillin
Penicillins
Prevalence
Skin*
Staphylococcus
Staphylococcus aureus
Streptococcus
Teicoplanin
Vancomycin
Ampicillin
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Erythromycin
Gentamicins
Oxacillin
Penicillins
Teicoplanin
Vancomycin