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Malassezia Species Associated Seborrheic Dermatitis and Its Comparison between HIV Positive and Negative Patients

Introduction: Malassezia yeasts are lipophilic organisms causing certain skin diseases. Seborrheic dermatitis (SD) is the second most common skin infection caused by Malassezia as well as in HIV/AIDS.
Aim: To determine the frequency of association of Malassezia species in HIV infected and HIV non-infected patients with Seborrheic dermatitis.
Materials and Methods: The prevalence of Seborrheic dermatitis is 5% in the general population. Hence a sample size of 80 was derived, 40 each of HIV seropositive and HIV seronegative adult patients clinically suspected of having Seborrheic Dermatitis. Specimens were collected by scraping and cellophane tape for KOH and Chicago Sky Blue (CSB) stain, and were cultured on Sabouraud’s dextrose agar. Data were analysed using SPSS version 16.0. P ≤ 0.05 was considered as significant.
Results: Majority of the patients i.e. 46 (57.5%) out of 80 were in the age group of 18-30 years with male preponderance. All HIV positive patients with SD had scaly, greasy, itchy, hypo-pigmented and erythematous lesions, & neck (23) and groin (20) were commonest sites. In 39 HIV positive and 22 HIV negative patients, >2 sites were involved. Majority of the HIV negative patients with SD had scaly (40), itchy (24) and hypo-pigmented lesions (27) & dandruff, and scalp (24) & neck (18) were commonest sites. (P<0.05). Twenty HIV positive patients had CD4 count ranging from 200-350 cells/mm3. Malassezia was detected in 38 and 34 HIV positive & negative patients respectively in laboratory diagnosis.
Conclusion: Seborrheic Dermatitis has severe presentation at multiple sites in HIV positive patients as compared to HIV negative patients.

Key words: Malassezia, Seborrheic dermatitis, HIV positive, HIV negative.