Microbial skin flora of selected cancer patients and hospital personnel.

The bacterial flora of the skin from five anatomical sites on 10 leukemia patients, 10 patients with malignant melanoma, and a control group of 10 medical personnel was examined quantitatively and qualitatively. This was done to determine whether malignant disease results in changes in skin flora and to establish carrier rates of gram-negative bacteria on the skin of personnel in hospital environments. Gram-negative bacteria were isolated more frequently (74 isolates from 100 cultures) from the skin of leukemia patients than from either patients with malignant melanoma (8 isolates from 100 cultures) or the medical personnel (9 isolates from 100 cultures). Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were isolated exclusively from leukemia patients. Relative proportions of gram-negative bacteria in total populations were determined. The axilla was the only site with a uniformly high proportion of gram-negative bacteria. From all other sites cultured, gram-negative populations were low (1 to 5 bacteria/cm2 of skin), although a high proportion of gram-negative populations occurred randomly throughout all subject groups. It was concluded that leukemia patients tend to carry gram-negative bacteria on the skin. The factors permitting colonization of skin by gram-negative bacteria are discussed.