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Dermatology Infectious diseases
Volume 207 - Issue 5

Corynebacterium minutissimum infection: erythrasma

Authors:  Deshan F Sebaratnam and Stephen Lee

Med J Aust 2017; 207 (5): 189. || doi: 10.5694/mja16.01081
Published online: 4 September 2017
A 68-year-old man presented with a 4-month history of mildly pruritic, well circumscribed, red-brown plaques with overlying scale affecting the axillary and inguinal regions
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A 68-year-old man presented with a 4-month history of mildly pruritic, well circumscribed, red-brown plaques with overlying scale affecting the axillary and inguinal regions (Figure, A). Wood lamp examination showed vivid coral pink fluorescence (Figure, B) suggestive of erythrasma. Corynebacterium minutissimum infection was confirmed through bacterial culture.

C. minutissimum is a gram-positive rod with a characteristic fluorescence attributable to synthesis of coproporphyrin III. General measures include optimising weight and glycaemic control where indicated. Treatment options include topical clindamycin, fusidic acid, azole antifungals or a 2-week course of a systemic macrolide or tetracycline antibiotic for generalised or recalcitrant cases.

Figure

Authors

  • Deshan F Sebaratnam1,2
  • Stephen Lee3
  • 1. Westmead Hospital, Sydney, NSW
  • 2. Skin and Cancer Foundation Australia, Sydney, NSW
  • 3. Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Sydney, NSW

Correspondence: d.sebaratnam@hotmail.com

Competing interests

No relevant disclosures.

Provenance: Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

View this article on Wiley Online Library

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