Foot spas may pose infection danger
17 May 2002
US doctors have warned that mycobacterial infection can cause persistent boils on the lower legs of people who use foot spas at a nail salon.
The doctors reported an outbreak of boils on the lower legs of 110 people who used the same nail salon (New England Journal of Medicine 2002; 346: 1366-71).
Rapidly growing Mycobacterium fortuitum, a type of bacterium, was isolated from the lesions of 34 affected people. All 10 foot spas had large amounts of hair and skin debris behind the (never cleaned) suction inlets, from which the mycobacterium was isolated.
All the affected people had soaked their feet for 10 to 15 minutes in a foot spa as part of the pedicure, with the water often reaching mid-calf.
People who had shaved with a razor before their pedicure were more than twice as likely to develop boils than those who hadn't shaved.
Up to 37 boils appeared weeks later. They were initially small, erythematous papules, but became large, tender and fluctuant over weeks to months. Some boils progressed to frank ulceration, while others resolved spontaneously but with substantial scarring.
The boils had negative routine bacterial cultures, and failed to respond to routine antibiotics. The boils eventually resolved, over one to 7 months, with anti-mycobacterial antibiotics.
Last Reviewed: 16 May 2002
- 1. Medical Observer Weekly 17/5/02
