Staphylococcus aureus associated with Atopic eczema - Pilot study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Staphylococcus aureus associated with Atopic eczema- a pilot study
IRAS ID
169303
Contact name
Charlotte Proby
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 26 days
Research summary
Atopic eczema (AE), is a common skin disease with up to 25% of children in the UK affected. This disease has a very significant impact on quality of life of affected individuals and their family.
It is known that people with eczema are more likely to carry the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus on their skin without symptoms (colonised) than those who do not have eczema. Clinically there is an observable link between increasing growth of Staphylococcus aureus on the skin and acute worsening the disease. This frequently leads to treatment with topical steroids and oral antibiotics.
This novel study is designed to investigate the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria isolated patients with eczema. It specifically aims to compare the bacteria commonly carried within the nose (a colonisation site), to the bacteria on body sites affected by eczema, and unaffected body sites within individual eczema patients. This will give information on whether specific types (strains) of Staphylococcus aureus are involved in the disease. It will also inform us on whether the bacteria being carried (colonising) are the same type as the bacteria living on the eczema skin. This knowledge is critically lacking in eczema research. It is important, as it is known that the different strains of Staphylococcus aureus can adapt their ability to survive in the environment and cause infection.
To undertake this research we need to collect samples of bacteria from the skin of patients with eczema. This will allow us to study the DNA of the bacteria, giving us potential insight into how and why they preferentially grown on people with this skin disease. Patients attending the paediatric eczema clinic at Ninewells Hospital Dermatology department would be invited to participate. Samples would be obtained by rubbing a cotton bud on the surface of a patients skin to capture bacteria from the surface.
REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/EM/1299
Date of REC Opinion
15 Dec 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion