Cutaneous Abscess Induction Protocol

The skin was shaved with an electric razor and then disinfected with iodine, washed with alcohol followed by saline, and dried with gauze. For epicutaneous inoculation (24 (link), 25 ), the skin surface was prepared by gentle tape-stripping seven times with Transpore tape (approximately 27 mm in width, 3M, Minneapolis, MN, USA). This technique was found to cause minimal damage to the epidermis and dermis (24 (link)). An inoculum of 10⁷S. aureus CFU in 0.025 ml of saline was added to 4 mm filter paper discs placed on prepared skin of both flanks; the sites were covered with 1.0 cm² pieces of plastic sheet and then overwrapped with dressings of Transpore tape and Nexcare waterproof tape (3M). To produce cutaneous abscesses, the same inoculum of S. aureus was injected intradermally into the flank sites.