[33]. Affected individuals with EF complain of a chronic intense intractable pruritus. Clinically, the skin eruption is characterised by erythematosus perifollicular papules with occasional pustules and is often heavily excoriated. Confluent erythematous plaques and urticarial lesions have also been reported. In most cases, the distribution is truncal. A peripheral eosinophilia has been reported in 25–50% of patients with HIV related EF.34–36 Moreover, elevated serum IgE levels

have been found in a high proportion of patients.34,37 Malassezia folliculitis has also been described in postallogeneic marrow transplant, kidney and heart transplant recipients.14,19,28 Skin CCI-779 nmr eruptions as a result of MF in these patients can easily be confused with other conditions, such as acne vulgaris, Candida folliculitis, chronic urticaria and other forms of folliculitis that are commonly seen in immunocompromised patients (Fig. 1). Rhie et al. [14] reported a series of 11 heart transplant patients who were on a standard immunosuppressive regimen with cyclosporine, prednisolone and azathioprine that developed MF. Diagnosis was confirmed microscopically

in all 11 cases with culture confirmation in six cases (M. pachydermatis and M. furfur in three cases each). Recently, a minor outbreak has been reported in an intensive care unit in three adult patients with predisposing factors MI-503 such as immunosuppression and/or antibiotic treatment.18 In this report, Malassezia furfur folliculitis was related to the high temperatures and humidity in association with the

lack of optimum patient skin hygiene that resulted in sebum accumulation. Another important characteristic of this mini-outbreak was the fact that it occurred simultaneously in the three patients and that they were cared in the ICU in neighbouring beds. Histological examination of skin biopsies in patients with Malassezia folliculitis shows, as the name suggests, invasion Progesterone and dilatation of follicles with large number of Malassezia yeast and rare hyphae, an inflammatory infiltrate consisting of lymphocytes, histiocytes, neutrophils and focal rupture of the follicular epithelium.38,39 Diagnosis of MF is mainly accomplished by microscopic examination of skin scrapings of affected areas stained with 10–15% potassium hydroxide or Albert’s solution to dissolve the keratin and debris. As Malassezia spp. are part of the normal cutaneous flora, their isolation in culture does not contribute to the diagnosis. Treatment with topical application of imidazole or selenium sulphide is usually effective in the immunocompetent host. However, in cases with extensive or recalcitrant lesions and in immunocompromised individuals, systemic antifungal treatment with fluconazole or itraconazole is recommended.