Abstract

BACKGROUND: Malassezia yeasts are normal skin flora of humans. But skin colonization appear to be controversial during neonate.

OBJECTIVE: We prospectively studied the distribution of Malassezia yeasts on clinically normal skin of neonates and infants for providing the basic data for proving the relationship of Malassezia yeasts and pathogenesis of the diseases of neonates and infants.

METHODS: A total of 200 subjects were studied using the direct smear test with 20% Parker ink/KOH solution. The numbers of the Malassezia yeasts per high power field were counted according to a bacterial index of lepra bacilli in patients of leprosy. In order to identify risk factors for the distribution of Malassezia yeasts, we compared sex, mode of delivery, gestational age, birthweight during the first week of life by statistical method of the logistic regression. 

RESULTS: Of the 200 neonates and infants under 12 weeks, 121 (60.5%) revealed Malassezia yeasts in at least a part of five examined sites. The prevalence of Malassezia yeasts was increased according to the age. No association was found between the incidence of Malassezia yeasts and sex, mode of delivery, gestational age, birth weight. 

CONCLUSION: We conclude that Malassezia yeasts colonize on the skin of neonates and infants. 

Keywords

Infants Malassezia yeasts Neonates

KJMM 1999 June;4(1):27-32(6). Epub 2016 February 24
Copyright © 1999 by Korean Journal of Medical Mycology

Language

Korean/English

Author

Chang Keun Oh; Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea
Kyung Sool Kwon; Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea
Chae Wook Lee; Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea
Si Hyoung Cho; Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea
Ho Sun Jang; Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea
Jae Hong Park; Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea

Corresponding

Kyung Sool Kwon, Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea.

Publication history

Acknowledgements

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Chang Keun Oh

Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea

Kyung Sool Kwon

Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea

Chae Wook Lee

Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea

Si Hyoung Cho

Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea

Ho Sun Jang

Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea

Jae Hong Park

Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea

Since epub date 2016 February 24