Candida folliculitis

Folliculitis barbae candidamycetica, Folliculitis candidamycetica.

Rare folliculitis in the beard area triggered by Candida spp.

Mostly adult men.

Pathogen: Candida spp., mostly Candida albicans.

Surfaced erythematous follicularly bound papules, pustules and nodules with honey-yellow crusts.

• Chronic course
• Failure to respond to antibiotics
• Detection of pathogen (myco. smear, epilation of a hair)
• If necessary, biopsy (PAS staining as part of the dermatopathological findings)

• Beard area.

Bacterial impetiginisation.

Physical interventions

• Shaving the beard
• Treatment of the predisposing factors
• Removal of the crusts

Topical therapy

• Clotrimazole cream
• Ciclopirox cream

Systemic therapy for extensive infestation

• Itraconazole 100-200 mg/day for 4-6 weeks
• Fluconazole 1x/day 50 mg p.o. for 4-6 weeks (in severe cases 100 mg/day p.o.)

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2. Leclerc G, Weber M, Contet-Audonneau N, Beurey J. Candida folliculitis in heroin addicts. Int J Dermatol 1986;25:100-2.
3. Jalalat S, Hunter L, Yamazaki M, Head E, Kelly B. An outbreak of Candida albicans folliculitis masquerading as Malassezia folliculitis in a prison population. J Correct Health Care 2014;20:154-62.
4. Ross EV, Baxter DL, Jr. Widespread Candida folliculitis in a nontoxic patient. Cutis 1992;49:241-3.
5. Durdu M, Guran M, Kandemir H, Ilkit M, Seyedmousavi S. Clinical and Laboratory Features of Six Cases of Candida and Dermatophyte Folliculitis and a Review of Published Studies. Mycopathologia 2016;181:97-105.