A member asked:

I have folliculitis and needle biopsies came back negative can i have an incisional or punch biopsy to isolate the microbe?

6 doctors weighed in across 2 answers

Sometimes: Folliculitis is usually staph aureus. If you have recurrent painful boils and drainage, that is culture negative, your problem may be hidradenitis and not folliculitis.

Answered 1/23/2019

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Dr. John Leander Po answered

Specializes in Infectious Disease

More info needed: Good question. A needle aspirate seems rather difficult to get a good sample for micro. Hopefully, less invasive ways were considered, such as empiric antibiotics for a simple folliculitis. In other situation, a non-bacterial cause could explain the folliculitis- in fact, certain drugs can cause a drug reaction in the form of a folliculitis. Otherwise, a punch biopsy is the next step.

Answered 9/13/2012

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