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Further Observations on the Bacteriology of Impetigo and Pemphigus Neonatorum
Author(s) -
PARKER M. T.,
WILLIAMS R. E. O.
Publication year - 1959
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1959.tb16024.x
Subject(s) - impetigo , medicine , pemphigus , dermatology , staphylococcus aureus , skin infection , outbreak , bacteriology , pathology , biology , bacteria , genetics
Summary Six hundred and nine impetigo lesions were examined bacteriologically and the presence in them of certain types of Staph. aureus and of Str. pyogenes thought to be specifically associated with impetigo was determined. On the basis of the bacteriological find‐ ings, 47%of the cases were considered to be staphylococcal, 21 %streptococcal and 11 %mixed. No specific pathogen was iso‐ lated from 21%. Among children seen in school minor ailment clinics, staphylococcal cases predominated when impetigo was prevalent, but a t all times a fifth or more of the cases were streptococcal. Cases referred to the out‐patient department of a skin hospital were, however, nearly all staphylococcal. It is probable that impetigo includes a more severe, often bullous, skin infection due to Staph. aurew Type 71, and a less severe condition associated with certain types of Str. pyogenes. Staph. aurew Type 71 was also responsible for a number of outbreaks of skin infection among newborn infants in hospital. Cases were of all degrees of severity from a mild vesicular eruption to a fully developed pemphigus neonatorum, and a few cases of generalised exfoliative dermatitis were seen. Similar cases due to Type 71 were occasionally seen in domiciliary practice, infected either from the midwife or from an older child with staphylococcal impetigo. The characteristic skin lesion caused by Xtaph. aureus Type 71 is an intraepidermal vesicle or bulls with little inflammatory reaction in the deeper tissues.