Folliculitis

Folliculitis

Localized inflammation of a hair follicle. The condition may be caused by infections, injury or irritation and is generally found on the face, neck, breast and buttocks. The damaged follicles are then infected with the bacteria Staphylococcus (staph).

The condition may be caused by staph aureus,  yeast or fungi.  If the condition spreads or becomes persistent swab cultures may need to be taken.

Lymphedema patients are more susceptible to skin infections and are strongly advised against hot tubs because of the possibility of contracting Pseudomona folliculitis. This is a resistant gram-negative bacterial infection with serious complications. Barber's itch is a staph infection of the hair follicles in the beard area of the face, usually the upper lip.  Shaving makes it worse.  Tinea barbae is similar to barber's itch, but the infection is caused by a fungus.


Pseudofolliculitis barbae is a disorder that occurs mainly in black men.  If curly beard hairs are cut too short, they may curve back into the skin and cause inflammation.

Clinical:

Pus in the hair follicle
Irritated and red follicles
Damaged hair (possibly in growing back into the follicle)

Complications:

While we tend to think of folliculitis as a minor and superficial infection, it is important to remember that with a lymphedema limb that is immunocompromised, the folliculitis could develop into a more severe infection.  Complications include cellulitis, forunculosis (This condition occurs when a number of boils develop under your skin. Boils usually start as small red bumps but become larger and more painful as they fill with pus), scarring, destruction of the hair follicle.  Untreated and/or severe/deep folliculitis could result in sepsis and bacteremia.

Treatment:

Topical antibiotics which may include bacitracin, polymyxin B sulfate (Polysporin), clindamycin, erythromycin, or mupirocin (Bactroban). You may also use an antiseptic cleanser, such as povidone-iodine (for example, Betadine) or chlorhexidine.
Oral antibiotics based on the seriousness (deeper or more severe infections) of the folliculitis or on the underlying medical condition of the patient. If caused by a bacteria, your doctor may prescribe dicloxacillin, erythromycin, or cephalexin (such as Keflex). Ciprofloxacin (Cipro) and ofloxacin (such as Floxin) are used for certain types of bacteria.

Fungus based folliculitis is treated with antifungal oral medications which include You will need to take antifungal pills, such as fluconazole (Diflucan), griseofulvin (Fulvicin-U/F or Gris-PEG, for example), itraconazole (Sporanox), or terbinafine (Lamisil).

Full Text Page

Four Key Features of a Fungus

Four Key Features of a Fungus

1.) Fungi are a kingdom consisting entirely of absorptive heterotrophs. In contrast to certain bacteria and autotrophic plants, they need pre-formed organic compounds as energy sources, and as carbon sources for cellular synthesis. Fungi characteristically live embedded in some form of food substrate where they absorb simple, soluble nutrients through the wall and cell membrane. In many cases, these simple nutrients may be released from more complex polymers by depolymerases that are secreted into the external medium. It is therefore unlikely that there is a substrate anywhere in the world that a fungus cannot utilize or benefit from. It should be noted the cell wall of the fungi prevents food being engulfed by phagocytosis.

2.) Fungi usually are filamentous, with the single filaments being termed hyphae. Fungal hyphae grow and branch to produce a network of filaments which constitutes the mycelium. The mycelium enlarges by extension of single hyphae which show polar growth, meaning they grow only at their extreme tips. This apical growth is in contrast to the intercalary growth of most other filamentous organisms. Expansion of the mycelium is continuous if the hyphae can keep on extending on the medium they are residing in. However, changes do take place as the mycelium ages and as that part of the food source on which it is growing is no longer able to provide sufficient nutrients. It should be noted here that though many fungi are hyphae in character, with an indeterminate mycelium capable of producing the largest of organisms, there are actually five major body forms in the kingdom.

3.) Fungi can reproduce by both asexual and sexual means. Reproduction is invariably connected to the production of spores, produced at specialized structures and fully equipped to start a new colony independent of the parent mycelium, and usually some distance from it. Fungal spores vary enormously in shape, size and other special properties, linked to their numerous roles in dispersal or survival.

4.) Fungi are all eukaryotic. This means they have a membrane-bound nucleus containing several chromosomes (unlike a circular strand of DNA found in prokaryotes), and a number of membrane-bound organelles including mitochondria and vacuoles. Eukaryotes also contain DNA that includes non-coding regions entitled introns, and ribosomes of the 80S type, contrary to the 70S type found in prokaryotes.

In summary, fungi are a kingdom of heterotrophic absorptive eukaryotes which probably arose from a choanoflagellate like protozoan by the origin of beta-glucan/chitin walls, with the simultaneous loss of phagotrophy. Multiple losses and origins of complex characters would have occurred since then, including major changes in wall chemistry, sometimes totally losing the whole vegetative wall. Fungi are ordinarily aerobic, having mitochondria with flat cristae and peroxisomes, the latter giving yeasts some of their chemical virtuosity. The 'true' fungi consist of the phyla Chytridiomycota, Zygomycota, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, each sharing important morphological and biochemical features, such as walls typically containing chitin. Fungi are restricted to a monophyletic lineage, the closest relatives to these true fungi being the Choanoflagellates, a group ancestral to multicellular animals too. The true fungi display evident evolutionary trends with respect to their colony structure, ecological relationships, cell form, life cycle and sexuality.(1)

(1) World of Fungus