Pediatric Patients With Guttate Or Inverse Psoriasis May Warrant Investigations For Anogenital, Pharyngeal Infections, Study Suggests

HCP Live (7/8, Brooks) reports a study suggests that “pediatric patients with guttate or inverse psoriasis may warrant evaluation for pharyngeal or anogenital bacterial infections – even if asymptomatic. Additionally, while bacteria like Streptococcus and Staphylococcus aureus were commonly isolated, treating the infection did not significantly alter psoriasis outcomes.” For the study, “a total of 166 unique patients with psoriasis/psoriasiform dermatitis and suspected pharyngeal and/or anogenital infection met the inclusion criteria.” Researchers observed that “35 patients (21%) had a positive pharyngeal culture only, 53 (32%) had a positive anogenital culture only, and 6 patients (4%) had both positive cultures.” They also noted that “inverse psoriasis was significantly more common in patients with a positive anogenital culture than in those with a positive pharyngeal culture...or a negative pharyngeal and/or anogenital culture.” The study was published in Pediatric Dermatology.