Scanning electron micrograph of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria.
The skin of people with atopic dermatitis lacks infection-fighting proteins, making them susceptible to skin infections caused by bacteria and viruses. Fungal infections also are common in people with atopic dermatitis.
Bacterial Infections
A major health risk associated with atopic dermatitis is skin colonization or infection by bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus. Sixty to 90 percent of people with atopic dermatitis are likely to have staph bacteria on their skin. Many eventually develop infection, which worsens the atopic dermatitis.
Viral Infections
People with atopic dermatitis are highly vulnerable to certain viral infections of the skin. For example, if infected with herpes simplex virus, they can develop a severe skin condition called atopic dermatitis with eczema herpeticum.
Those with atopic dermatitis should not receive the currently licensed smallpox vaccine, even if their disease is in remission, because they are at risk of developing a severe infection called eczema vaccinatum. This infection is caused when the live vaccinia virus in the smallpox vaccine reproduces and spreads throughout the body. Furthermore, those in close contact with people who have atopic dermatitis or a history of the disease should not receive the smallpox vaccine because of the risk of transmitting the live vaccine virus to the person with atopic dermatitis.
Scientific Advances
NIAID Recognizes October as Eczema Awareness Month
October 17, 2022
In general, people with eczema are often diagnosed with allergies they may not have because allergy blood tests measure the level of a type of antibody called immunoglobulin E (IgE) which is specific to a particular food or a protein within the food. People with food allergies make more IgE than normal to that food or protein, but people with eczema are likely to have high total IgE levels in general, resulting in positive allergy test results, even though they may not actually have a food allergy.
False-positive allergy tests can lead to an unnecessarily restrictive food-elimination diet with unwanted outcomes such as malnutrition, weight loss or low weight gain.
Fernanda Young, M.D., a clinician in NIAID’s Laboratory of Allergic Diseases, is leading the Phase 2 clinical trial, Food-Specific and Component IgE Threshold Levels That Predict Food Allergy in People With Elevated Total Serum IgE Levels and Atopic Dermatitis which aims to identify threshold IgE levels to peanut and milk or a component of these foods that predict whether a person has a food allergy.