Primary Cutaneous Cryptococcosis in an Immunocompetent 6-Year-Old Female

A 6-year-old otherwise healthy female presented to the ED with a right eyebrow lesion for one month. Previous I&D attempts and empiric antibiotic treatment had failed to improve the lesion. Following dermatology referral, superficial culture resulted with growth of Cryptococcus neoformans after which completion of oral fluconazole treatment resolved the lesion. Though Cryptococcus neoformans infections commonly plague immunocompromised patients, primary cutaneous cryptococcosis in the immunocompetent patient is a rare but documented infection with a paucity of reported pediatric cases, and frontline physicians should be aware of such a diagnosis in the setting of persistent skin lesions without response to more commonly utilized therapies.

The walking stick in the nineteenth-century city: Conflicting ideals of urban walking

This article reflects on the role of the walking stick in the nineteenth-century city and explores the nature of the criticisms directed at it. The criticism and mocking of certain ways of holding the cane display the deep conflicts within the culture of urban strolling concerning how to take part in it, and who were allowed to do so. By identifying an irritation with canes, we see that there was a conflict between the purposeful culture of walking and the superficial culture of performativity and display, which forced Victorian men to be extremely careful of how their behaviour was perceived. By bringing the walking stick to the fore, the paper illustrates its role in a struggle between ostentation and sobriety and how its importance in cultures of both self-possession and flamboyance is indicative of aspects of the history of urban walking.