Kismat Ara Islam1, Md. Shah Zaman2, Emily Akter3, Monira Yeasmin 4
Background: Atopic dermatitis is a common chronic, relapsing inflammatory skin condition characterized by pruritus and erythematous patches with typical morphological features and distribution. Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive, round-shaped bacterium, with the ability to colonize the skin of patients with atopic dermatitis. A correlation between the severity of the eczema and colonization with S. aureus has been demonstrated. This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of staphylococcus aureus colonization on eczematous and non-eczematous skin with atopic dermatitis and the influence on atopic dermatitis severity. Materials & Methods: This was a case control study conducted among 30 diagnosed patients of atopic dermatitis as case and another 30 age and sex matched healthy individual as control. Both case and control were collected from the outpatient department of Shaheed Mansur Ali Medical College Hospital (SMAMCH) between the period of January 1st, 2012 and June 30th, 2021. For atopic dermatitis patients, two samples were collected using sterile cotton swab stick. One swab was taken from the eczematous lesion and the other from non-eczematous skin. Skin swabs for bacterial culture were sent to the Department of Pathology, Shaheed Monsur Ali Medical college & Hospital for the isolation and identification of recognized bacterial pathogens. Results: Patients were predominantly male, 17 (56.7%) male and 13 (43.3%) female. As for disease severity, 7 (23.3%) had mild disease, 19 (63.3%) had moderate disease and 4 (13.3%) had severe disease. Bacterial colonization by staphylococcus aureus was present among 23 (76.7%) of the patients. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated in 53.33% of the eczematous lesions and in 33.33% of non-eczematous skin of patients with atopic dermatitis. S. aureus was isolated in 3 (42.9%) patients with mild dermatitis, 16 (84.2%) with moderate dermatitis and in 4 (100.0%) with severe dermatitis. S. aureus was not isolated in non-eczematous skin of atopic patient. Conclusion: This study confirmed that the skin of patients with atopic dermatitis was more frequently colonized with S. aureus than that of non-atopic. The more severe the dermatitis, the higher the rate of colonization. S. aureus is also more often present in non-eczematous skin of atopic than of non-atopic.
Key words: Atopic dermatitis, Staphylococcus aureus
