ECOLOGY OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS ON HUMAN SKIN SURFACE .V. STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS ARTIFICIALLY INOCULATED UPON SKIN SURFACE AFTER EXTRACTION WITH ETHER OF PATIENTS WITH DERMATOSES AND DURING SYSTEMIC ADMINISTRATION OF ANTIBIOTICS

An ether extraction of the skin surface prior to the inoculation of Staphylococcus aureus supports the multiplication in the following hours. This support is evident also in persons which on untreated normal skin do not exhibit a multiplication of Staphylococcus aureus. - The ether extraction reduces the resident flora of the skin very distinctly; up to 24 hours later the number of microbes is smaller than on untreated skin. On pathologically altered skin with increased scaling, f.i. psoriatic, eczematous or scarred areas, the multiplication of Staphylococcus aureus is supported, provided that the evaporation of the perspiratio insensibilis is impeded. Clinically healthy skin areas of patients with eczema are obviously more suitable for the multiplication of Staphylococcus aureus than normal skin. During systemic administration of antibiotics (penicillin, chloramphenicol) the multiplication of Staphylococcus aureus is mostly stopped on the normal skin surface. In contrast with the normal skin surface there is on the stripped skin only a partial inhibition of the multiplication. © 1969 Springer-Verlag.