Cutaneous (non-HIV) infections

Cutaneous infections continue to represent a large proportion of inpatient dermatology. Though most infectious skin diseases do not warrant hospitaliz ation, some do and can rapidly become fatal if not treated promptly. A sele cted group of infections are reviewed-primary cutaneous infections, exotoxi n-mediated syndromes, and systemic infections-that warrant hospitalization. Dermatologists play a critical role in the synthesis of patient history an d appreciation of morphologic skin disease, which, when coupled with approp riate lab tests, may help to establish a diagnosis allowing for the timely implementation of effective and targeted therapy.