The Impact of Treating Staphylococcus Aureus Infection and Colonization on the Clinical Severity of Atopic Dermatitis

Summary

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infection is perceived not only as a common secondary complication of atopic dermatitis (AD), but also as a culprit in the worsening of this condition. In addition, the recent development of community acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus (CA-MRSA) has presented a new challenge to our management of AD, both in treatment of acute infections and maintenance therapy. The investigators would like to perform a randomized investigator-blinded placebo-controlled study of children aged 6 months to 17 years with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis with clinical signs of secondary bacterial infection to study: 1) the prevalence of CA-MRSA in our patient population; 2) the relationship of sensitivity of the S. aureus organism cultured from the infected lesion(s) to clinical response to oral cephalexin therapy and severity of the AD; and 3) whether concurrent treatment of S. aureus infection initially with nasal mupirocin ointment and sodium hypochlorite (bleach) baths can result in long-term S. aureus eradication and clinical stability.

Conditions

• Atopic Dermatitis

Interventions

DRUG

Sodium hypochlorite (bleach) baths

Sodium hypochlorite (bleach) baths twice weekly for 3 months

DRUG

Mupirocin ointment

Intranasal mupirocin 2% ointment BID x five days (3 times total for subjects; one time only for family members)

DRUG

Water

Water baths twice weekly for three months

DRUG

Petrolatum Ointment

Intranasal petrolatum ointment twice daily for five days

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Society for Pediatric Dermatology

  collaborator OTHER

• Johnson & Johnson

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• Northwestern University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Amy Paller, MD · Childrens Memorial Hospital

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

6 Months

Max Age

17 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2005-09-30

Primary Completion

2011-03-31

Completion

2011-03-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations