[Treatment options in severe hidradenitis suppurativa].

Hidradenitis suppurativa is a chronic skin disease, characterized by painful, deep-seated inflamed lesions, mainly in areas bearing apocrine sweat glands, most commonly the axillary and inguinal regions. Pain leads to mechanical problems, and bacterial growth in the lesions produces a foul-smelling discharge, which reduces the quality of life. In this type of hidradenitis the infection occurs around hair follicles and sebaceous glands, in contrast to what the name would suggest (hidradenitis = sweat-gland inflammation); hidradenitis suppurativa can, therefore be regarded more as a form of acne.

Different clonal complexes of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus are disseminated in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine region.

The Euregio Meuse-Rhine (EMR) is formed by the border regions of Belgium, Germany, and The Netherlands. Cross-border health care requires infection control measures, in particular since the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) differs among the three countries. To investigate the dissemination of MRSA in the EMR, 152 MRSA isolates were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), SCCmec typing, and multilocus sequence typing.