A high proportion of Jamaican children with any abnormality of the skin have coagulase-positive staphylococci or [beta]-hemolytic streptococci or both in their noses or on their skin. Incidence of streptococcal infection or carriage is unusually high. The association of both organisms in nose and skin was significantly higher in 25 children with infective dermatitis than in those with other dermatoses. In children tested, 90% of those with infective dermatitis showed increased antistreptolysin titers. Association of the double infection in both nose and skin, or nasal infection with [beta]-hemolytic streptococci alone, may be relevant to etiology of infective dermatitis. Antiseptic or antibiotic therapy of skin should be combined with similar measures for the anterior nares. Long-term penicillin therapy may be of use in prevention of relapses.
