Erythrasma

Aka: Erythrasma, Cutaneous Erythrasma, Corynebacterium minutissimum

II. Risk Factors

  1. Similar to risks associated with Intertrigo

III. Symptoms

  1. Usually asymptomatic
  2. May be pruritic in some cases

IV. Signs

  1. Small red-brown Macules (may form larger patches)
  2. Distribution in intertriginous areas
    1. Interdigital web spaces
    2. Gluteal crease
    3. Inguinal area
    4. Axilla
    5. Inframammary

V. Diagnosis

  1. Wood's Lamp: Fluoresces coral red
  2. Gram Stain: Gram Positive rod with long filaments

VI. Differential Diagnosis

  1. See Intertrigo
  2. Cutaneous Candidiasis
  3. Dermatophytes
    1. Tinea Pedis
    2. Tinea Cruris
  4. Psoriasis

VII. Managment

  1. Antibiotics
    1. Erythromycin 250 mg orally qid for 5 days
    2. Clarithromycin 1 gram orally for 1 dose
  2. Topical Antifungal agents with activity in Erythrasma
    1. Miconazole
    2. Clotrimazole
    3. Econazole
  3. Treat coexisting fungal infection (see Intertrigo)
  4. Adjunctive topical agents
    1. Cleocin-T or Erythromycin gel
    2. Whitfield's Ointment
    3. Sodium fusidate ointment
    4. Antibacterial soap
    5. Chlorhexidine (Hibiclens)

VIII. Prevention

  1. See Intertrigo

IX. References

  1. Habif (2004) Clinical Dermatology, p. 419
  2. Holdiness (2003) Am Fam Physician 67(2):254 [PubMed]
  3. Janniger (2005) Am Fam Physician 72:833-40 [PubMed]

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Related Studies

Ontology: Corynebacterium minutissimum (C0010154)

Definition (NCI_CDISC) Any bacterial organism that can be assigned to the species Corynebacterium minutissimum.
Definition (NCI) A species of aerobic or facultatively anaerobic, Gram-positive, coryneform, pleomorphic bacilli assigned to the phylum Actinobacteria. This species is nonmotile, non-spore forming catalase and pyrazinamidase positive, indole and urease negative, non-lipophilic, does not reduce nitrate, ferments glucose, sucrose and maltose, hydrolyzes hippurate, but not casein or gelatin. C. minutissimum causes erythrasma and pruritic scaly rashes in diabetic patients.
Concepts Bacterium (T007)
SnomedCT 83594007
English CORYNEBACTERIUM MINUTISSIMUM, Corynebacterium minutissimum, Corynebacterium minutissimum (organism)
Spanish Corynebacterium minutissimum (organismo), Corynebacterium minutissimum
Derived from the NIH UMLS (Unified Medical Language System)

Ontology: Erythrasma (C0014752)

Definition (MSH) A chronic bacterial infection of major folds of the skin, caused by Corynebacterium minutissimum.
Concepts Disease or Syndrome (T047)
MSH D004894
ICD10 L08.1
SnomedCT 111797001, 200726000, 266185008, 154314007, 186393009, 238418005
English Erythrasma, cutaneous erythrasma, cutaneous erythrasma (diagnosis), erythrasma, Erythrasma [Disease/Finding], Erythrasma (disorder), Erythrasma (disorder) [Ambiguous]
French Érythrasma, Erythrasma
Japanese 紅色陰癬, ｺｳｼｮｸｲﾝｾﾝ
Swedish Erytrasma
Czech erytrazma, Erytrazma
Finnish Erytrasma
Russian ERITRAZMA, ЭРИТРАЗМА
Korean 홍색음선
Polish Łupież rumieniowy
Hungarian erythrasma
Norwegian Erythrasma
Spanish eritrasma (concepto no activo), eritrasma (trastorno), eritrasma, Eritrasma
Dutch erythrasma, Erythrasma
German Erythrasma
Italian Eritrasma
Portuguese Eritrasma
Derived from the NIH UMLS (Unified Medical Language System)

Related Topics in Bacterial Infections

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