Cutaneous Corynebacterium Infection Presenting with Disseminated Skin Nodules and Ulceration

Antonios G A Kolios; Antonio Cozzio; Annelies S Zinkernagel; Lars E French; Thomas M Kündig

doi:10.1159/000476054

Cutaneous Corynebacterium Infection Presenting with Disseminated Skin Nodules and Ulceration

Case Rep Dermatol. 2017 May 16;9(2):8-12. doi: 10.1159/000476054. eCollection 2017 May-Aug.

Authors

Antonios G A Kolios^{1

2}, Antonio Cozzio³, Annelies S Zinkernagel⁴, Lars E French¹, Thomas M Kündig¹

Affiliations

¹ aDepartment of Dermatology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
² bDepartment of Immunology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
³ cDepartment of Dermatology and Allergology, Kantonsspital St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
⁴ dDivision of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

Abstract

In the context of the European migrant crisis, more and more cases of cutaneous diphtheria are seen. A typical presentation includes painful cutaneous ulcerations with grayish-whitish pseudomembranes. Here we present 2 male Eritrean patients suffering from cutaneous nontoxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae (patient 1) and Corynebacterium striatum (patient 2) infection.

Keywords: Corynebacterium diphtheriae; Corynebacterium striatum; Cutaneous diphtheria; Skin nodules; Skin ulceration.

Publication types

Case Reports