Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease in children. Patients with AD experience a high rate of colonization of the skin surface by Staphylococcus aureus. Because of a skin barrier defect, there is a potential risk of staphylococcal invasive infection in patients with AD. Here, we present 2 cases of breast abscess caused by S. aureus in 2 adolescent girls with severe AD. Methicillin-sensitive S. aureus was identified from the breast abscess material. They were treated with appropriate antibiotics, however surgical drainage of the abscess was needed in case 1. Identical strains were found from the breast abscess material as well as the lesional and the nonlesional skin of the patients through matrixassisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight analysis. We characterized the differential abundance of Firmicutes phylum in patients' skin in microbiota analysis. In particular, S. aureus, a member of Firmicutes, differed significantly between the lesional and the normal-appearing skin. Our cases demonstrate the potential severity of bacterial deep tissue infection in AD and the dysbiosis of skin microbiota may be involved in inflammation in AD.
Keywords: Atopic dermatitis; Child; Mastitis; Microbiome; Staphylococcus aureus.