Colonization Withstaphylococcus Aureusin Patients With Hand Eczema: Prevalence And Association With Severity, Atopic Dermatitis, Subtype And Nasal Colonization

Background WhileStaphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)colonization has been thoroughly studied in atopic dermatitis (AD), whereS. aureusis related to flares and considered a trigger factor,S. aureuscolonization in hand eczema (HE) has only been sparsely studied. Objectives To examine the 1-week prevalence ofS. aureuscolonization in HE patients, and its association with severity, HE subtype, AD, and nasalS. aureuscolonization compared with healthy controls. Methods In a case-control study of 50 adult HE patients and 50 healthy controls, bacterial swabs from lesional skin (patients only), non-lesional skin (dorsal hand), and the nasal cavity were sampled for culturing ofS. aureuson days 1, 3, 5 and 8. Participants were characterized by demographics, AD, HE subtype, filaggrin gene mutation status, and HE severity. Results Twenty-seven HE patients (54%) were colonized withS. aureuson the hand compared to one control (2%) (P< .01). NasalS. aureuscolonization was found in 72% of patients and 22% of controls (P< .01). For patients,S. aureuscolonization on the hands was associated with an atopic HE subtype and HE severity (P= .01 andP< .01, respectively). Conclusions Both hand and nasalS. aureuscolonization were highly prevalent among HE-patients and may have an impact on the persistence of HE.