Aerobic and Anaerobic Bacteriology of Cutaneous Abscesses in Children

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Abstract
Specimens from 209 cutaneous abscesses in children were cultured for aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms. Of these, 9 (4%) were sterile and 51 (24%) yielded pure cultures that were predominantly Staphylococcus aureus. The rest of the abscesses yielded growth of 2 or more serobic and/or anaerobic organisms. The data were organized according to these anatomic locations: head, neck, trunk, finger, nailbed, hand, leg, buttocks, perirectal and vulvovaginal areas. Aerobic bacteria only were present in 92 specimens (46%), anaerobes only were isolated in 52 (26%) and mixed aerobic and anaerobic bacteria were present in 56 abscesses (28%). A total of 467 isolates (270 anaerobes and 197 aerobes) were recovered, accounting for 2.3 isolates/specimen (1.3 anaerobes and 1.0 aerobes). The presence of more than 1 anaerobe/abscess was obtained from the vulvovaginal, buttocks, perirectal, finger, nailbed and head areas. Aerobes were more prevalent in the neck, hand, leg and trunk areas. The predominant aerobes recovered were: S. aureus (89 isolates), .alpha.- and nonhemolytic streptococci (29), group A .beta.-hemolytic streptococci (16), Enterobacter (10) and Escherichia coli (8). The predominant anaerobes recovered were anaerobic gram-positive cocci (79 isolates), Bacteroides spp. (116, including 31 B. melaninogenicus group and 29 B. fragilis group) and Fusobacterium sp. (39). Our findings indicate the polymicrobial nature and predominance of anaerobes in cutaneous abscesses in children in perirectal, head, finger and nailbed areas.

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