bacteria

Half of Lupus Rashes Harbor High Levels of Bacteria Responsible for Infections

Half of Lupus Rashes Harbor High Levels of Bacteria Responsible for Infections

A new study finds that one side effect of lupus could also make patients with the autoimmune condition more vulnerable to a skin infection, or spreading the infection to others.

In the paper, published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, researchers found that 50% of skin rashes in patients with lupus contained an abnormally high presence of a common bacteria responsible for skin infections: staphylococcus aureus, or more commonly known as staph.