Dermatology News

Infections contribute to the risk of psoriasis, while antibiotic use does not, according to data presented in JAMA Dermatology.

A recent investigation in Hospital Pediatrics revealed that children aged younger than 90 days presenting with skin and soft tissue infections often experienced treatment failure that led to hospital revisitation, but rarely developed concomitant bacterial infections.

The duration of use of systemic antibiotics for treatment of inflammatory and nodulocystic acne in patients aged older than 12 unnecessarily exceeded published recommendations, according to data in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

The incidence of congenital syphilis in the United States increased 38% between 2012 and 2014, with last year’s overall case rate the highest recorded since 2001, according to recently published CDC surveillance data.

A 6-year-old female is referred to evaluate a chronic, slowly enlarging skin lesion on her right lower leg. The lesion is not associated with any symptoms or other complaints, such as fever, nausea, vomiting, cough, pain or other skin lesions. It was first noted as a light-colored spot when she was adopted from an orphanage in India at 4 years of age.

A 14-year-old girl presented to the pediatric dermatology clinic with a complaint of “raisin hands.” For the previous month, she had noted that the skin on the fingers and palms of her hands would “wrinkle” and “hurt” following exposure to water for several minutes or longer. Her palms are occasionally pruritic, and the patient stated that her condition seemed to worsen with bathing and handwashing. The patient had attempted to treat her palms with 20% aluminum chloride solution but experienced even worse pain and peeling of the skin. Her past medical history is significant for recently diagnosed mild asthma. The patient occasionally takes ibuprofen, but is not taking daily medications. She has not experienced any unintended weight loss and appears otherwise healthy.

A recent clinical review addressing treatment of pediatric psoriasis identified several gaps in the current standard of care, including differences in symptom appearance compared with adult patients and the risk for long-term comorbidities.

Children with food allergy and eczema tended to be shorter and weigh less during early childhood, than those who had food allergy alone according to study results.

The FDA has granted a qualified infectious disease product designation to an investigational fusidic acid antibiotic for the prevention of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections.

A 13-year-old Hispanic female presented to the pediatric dermatology clinic for evaluation of “large bumps” on her back. She was diagnosed with anterior uveitis 2 years ago and has been followed by both ophthalmology and rheumatology clinics. She has been treated during the past several years with methotrexate and mycophenolate mofetil; most recently, she had Remicade infusions added to her regimen.