Carriage of antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in atopic dermatitis children attending paediatric outpatient clinics

Abstract

Children with atopic dermatitis (AD) are commonly colonized with Staphylococcus aureus. Antibiotics frequently used for AD may increase antibiotic resistance. There is an increasing incidence of community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus (CA-MRSA) cutaneous infections in the general population. We evaluated the skin colonisation by S. aureus in AD patients and controls at the paediatric clinics. The antibiotic susceptibility patterns of S. aureus isolates were compared and risk factors for carriage of S. aureus of antibiotic resistance were studied. S. aureus was isolated in swabs from 142 AD patients (71.4%) and 52 control patients (40.9%) (p<0.001). CA-MRSA having unique microbiological features was not detected in our study. The antimicrobial susceptibility testing in patients with AD group revealed that 23.4% of S. aureus were resistant to erythromycin, 19.7% resistant to tetracycline and 2.8% resistant to fusidic acid. No significant differences in antibiotic resistance and risk factors were observed between the AD and controls. We conclude that no CA-MRSA has yet been identified in our paediatric clinics. AD does not currently appear to be a risk factor for carriage of S. aureus with higher antibiotic resistance.