Primary cutaneous nocardiosis in immunocompetent children

Primary cutaneous nocardiosis is an infrequent opportunistic infection that mainly affects immunodepressed hosts. We describe two immunocompetent patients who exhibited two clinical forms of cutaneous nocardiosis, a mycetoma from walking barefoot in contaminated water and in the case of the other patient a lymphocutaneous form on the basis of a stabbing-cutting injury. In both cases the tests performed ruled out any immunodeficiency, particularly chronic granulomatose disease, since nocardiosis is regarded as an infection that acts as a marker for that illness. Treatment with cotrimoxazole led to the total healing of the lesions in both patients.