Staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome in a woman with chronic renal failure exposed to human immunodeficiency virus.

A twenty-eight-year-old woman seropositive for the human immunodeficiency virus and undergoing hemodialysis for end-stage renal disease sustained an infection of her arteriovenous graft. Multiple erythematous erosions appeared and a diagnosis of staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome was made when a frozen section of a fresh skin peel revealed an intraepidermal split through the granular layer and Staphylococcus aureus group II, phage type 71 was cultured from the wound and blood. Twenty-six cases of adult patients with staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome have been reported. Although this includes one patient with AIDS-related complex, this is the first case of an adult with staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome who showed seropositive results of testing for human immunodeficiency virus.