[Cutaneous coagulase-negative staphylococci--always harmless?].
Staphylococcus lugdunensis belongs to the group of coagulase-negative staphylococci, but share many clinical and microbiological characteristics with Staphylococcus aureus. We report two cases of chronic recurrent purulent skin infections in two females (one immunocompetent, the other HIV-infected with CD4 cell counts of 438/microl) who were treated repeatedly with antibiotic and surgical interventions, but only became free of recurrences after this was combined with a decontamination strategy.