Infectious Dermatitis Associated with HTLV-1 in Adults: Difficult Diagnosis and Important Clinical Management

Abstract

Infectious dermatitis is a severe, chronic and relapsing dermatitis, associated with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1). Although most reported cases have onset in childhood, adult cases of infectious dermatitis have been reported. The dermatological framework mimics common conditions such as seborrheic dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, impetigo and mycosis fungoides. In endemic countries for HTLV-1, like Brazil, it is essential that the infectious dermatitis is considered as a differential diagnosis in these cases. Early diagnosis is important to prevent the dissemination and provide appropriate monitoring and treatment of possible complications associated with the virus, such as HTLV-1 associated myelopathy or tropical spastic paraparesis, and Adult T-cell leukemia / lymphoma. We report two female patients with adult-onset infectious dermatitis. In order to enrich the report, we also presented the daughter's photos from one of the patients, with the same diagnosis.