ANTIMICROBIAL THERAPY OF SUPERFICIAL BACTERIAL FOLLICULITIS IN DOGS

摘要

Dogs are highly susceptible to cutaneous infection and particularly to superficial bacterial folliculitis (SBF), the most frequently encountered form of canine pyoderma. This disease is routinely treated with systemic antimicrobials and is probably the principal reason for the use of such drugs in small animal practice. The cause of infection in the great majority of cases is Staphylococcus pseudintermedius, which is able to invade the skin as a consequence of reduced immunity associated with a variety of other conditions. Such conditions can be difficult to diagnose and resolve, particularly in general small animal practice. Thus SBF is frequently a recurrent disease and affected animals receive repeated courses of systemic antimicrobial drugs. Inthe past, S. pseudintermedius (formerly known as S. intermedius) infections could be routinely treated successfully with beta-lactam antimicrobials, to which this species did not show a propensity to develop resistance. However, methicillin-resistant S.pseudintermedius (MRSP), which is highly multi-resistant, is now rapidly spreading throughout the world. This has focused attention on the need to ensure that diagnosis and treatment of SBF is managed in an optimal way so as to resist the spread of thisorganism, the generation of even more resistant clones, and the wasteful and ineffective use of antimicrobial drugs to which this organism is resistant.