Dermatology News

As peak tick season approaches, experts warn that Lyme disease is not as common as the abundance of myths surrounding it.

An 11-year-old girl was referred to the dermatologist for a warty papule on the left nasal side-wall. Her mother stated that this had been present since infancy, but it seemed to increase in size during the past several months and now occasionally became irritated and bled. Initially diagnosed as a verruca, the patient was treated with topical imiquimod for three months without change.

This 18-year-old girl presented to the dermatologist with complaints of brown papules in a net-like pattern on her upper back, as well as in the inframammary area. The papules had evolved over several weeks. These were mostly of cosmetic concern to her as they were not painful or pruritic. She denied any illness preceding the eruption.

A 13-month-old girl presents with eczematous papules of the right flank and axillae. The eruption spreads later to the right leg and then the rest of the trunk. The eruption was present for two days.

A 4-year-old boy with a two-day history of an eruption presents with juicy papules on the arms and legs that he describes as “itchy.”

NEW YORK – Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is changing the way pediatricians treat skin and soft tissue infections as well as other infections, Jay M. Lieberman, MD, said here at the 18th Annual Infectious Diseases in Children Symposium.

We pediatricians encounter a multitude of rashes and infections that often defy routine diagnosis. Even when the correct medical diagnosis can be deduced quickly, the etiology of the offending pathogen is harder to ascertain than the medical textbooks would have us to believe. Furthermore, pediatric patients are frequently scared of our “necessary” culture techniques, and the family may be overwhelmed by the cost of our procedures.

In the July 14, 1900, edition of The Lancet on page 89, an article appeared entitled, “On the confusion of two different diseases under the name of rubella (Rose Rash),” by Dr. Clement Dukes. In this article, Dukes reports the outbreak of an exanthematous disease at the Rugby School where he was senior physician. He argues for the existence of a new disease that he believes previously had been confused with rubella. Sound familiar?