CUTANEOUS CANDIDIASIS IN EARLY INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD

[摘要] The presence of Candida albicans in the stools of newborn infants, detected by routine laboratory tests, was overwhelmingly indicative of subsequent oral and/or cutaneous candidiasis.Cutaneous candidiasis in newborn infants may occur independently of oral lesions, and in such cases C. albicans may be present in the stools only.Cutaneous candidiasis may appear during the first week of life. It should be suspected in all infants suffering from oral thrush or from unmanageable diaper dermatoses. The diagnosis should be confirmed by laboratory examination of scrapings from the lesions and stool specimens.One hundred per cent of the newborn infants and 88% of the older children who suffered from candidal diaper rashes harbored C. albicans in the intestine.Since infected stools are obviously a focus for such cutaneous lesions, local therapy should be supplemented with medication designed to eliminate C. albicans from the digestive tract.Candida albicans was not isolated from the mouth, skin, or stools of 15 newborn infants with "red buttocks" and of 17 patients with ammoniacal, contact or seborrheic dermatitis.Scrapings and cultures from healthy skin, and from the site of cured candidal lesions were negative for C. albicans.On the basis of these findings and reports in the literature, it is concluded that C. albicans occurs on the skin only in pathologic conditions attributable to the organism.

[学科分类] 儿科学