Gurmohan Singh

Bacteriology of Psoriatic Plaques

Qualitative and quantitative studies of cutaneous bacterial flora were carried out in psoriatic patients and normal healthy controls. In psoriatics, the flora isolated from the affected skin was compared with the flora of adjacent normal skin. No significant qualitative difference was observed. The total number of bacteria isolated from the psoriatic plaque was significantly higher than on the adjacent normal skin. Flora of normal skin of psoriatics when compared with the skin of healthy controls did not reveal any qualitative difference, but a statistically significant difference was observed in the total bacterial counts. The nasal carriage rate of Staphylococcus aureus in psoriatics was higher than the control groups.

Hypertrichosis and hyperpigmentation with systemic psoralen treatment

nausea, anorexia, vomiting, transient ataxia and mental contusion are most frequent. Drug eruption.s are mentioned repeatedly in published work, they may occur at any time during treatment and many different pattrrns are described. Erytheniatous. maculo-papular, urticarial. .scaly and jiruritic (Taylor, ]963) and light sensitivity eruptions (Miller, liXiO) have been seen. A reversible illness closely resembling lujius erythematosiis or dermatomyositi.s (Simpson, lOtiO) and StevensJohnson syndrome (Coombes, 1965) have also heen reported. Eruptions usually begin to subside very soon after the drug is withdrawn. The rash which I have observed occurred in a man aged 72 five weeks after he l)egan taking u]t to :*(M) mg. of carbamazepine daily with excellent effect on his trigeminal neuralgia. The eruption was seen on the trunk and limbs and was maximal on the legs. There was also oedema of the lower legs and forearms, but within a day of stopping the drug, rash and oedema began to improve. Three weeks later a little fine scaling and pigmentation on the lower legs were all that remained of the original eruption. Full blood count including platelets and examination of the urine were normal. The patient has not been challenged furtlier with the drug. Clearly wo should be aware of the side effects of this otliervvise u.seful drug. I am grateful to Dr. A. W. Galbraith of the Medical Department of Geigy Ltd., ulio readily supplied the necessary literature and additional information.

Vitiligo and blood groups. Preliminary report.

THE relationship of blood gronps to the aetiology of some diseases has been of interest to physicians for a long time (Bnchanan and Higley, 1921). A and B antigens have been shown to be present in human epidermal eells by Nelken et al. (1957) and in human duodenal cells hy Cowan (1962). Again there is the common association of blood group O and duodenal ulceration (Aird et al., 1954), blood group A and pernicious anaemia (Cregor and Sortor, 1956), diabetes mellitus (McConnell, 1955 and Roberts, 1957) and cancer of the stomach (Aird et al., 1953 and Billington, 1956). It is logical therefore to consider the possible association of some skin diseases with ABO groups. Dorn in 1959 and Readett in 1964 studied blood groups in cases of eczema and found no significant deviation from the normal pattern. MacSween and Syme (1965) have studied the relation of blood groups to skin diseases in general.

A new method for the evaluation of topical antibacterial agents in vivo in human beings.

A simple and new method for producing staphylococcal infection of intact human skin developed by the author is utilized here for evaluation of medicated soaps.