Staphylococcus aureus in the anterior nares and subungual spaces of the hands in atopic dermatitis.

We examined the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus in the anterior nares and the subungual spaces of the hands of patients with atopic dermatitis to determine whether the presence of S. aureus at these sites may contribute to the aggravation of the dermatitic skin lesions. The prevalence of S. aureus in the anterior nares of patients with atopic dermatitis was over five times higher than that in the anterior nares of patients with other skin diseases or in healthy adult controls, and the prevalence of S. aureus in the subungual spaces was 10 times higher in patients with atopic dermatitis than in those with other skin diseases or in controls. Both the anterior nares and the subungual spaces of the hands are important reservoirs of S. aureus in atopic dermatitis. The phage type of S. aureus strains isolated from the anterior nares is similar to that of the strains isolated from the subungual spaces.