Can folliculitis be caused by or spread by mildew in a washing machine?

My son, husband and I have been diagnosed with folliculitis at different times and on different places of our bodies (scalp, eyes, chin, nose, legs, arms) over the last 9 months. They have not been able to obtain a culture that identifies bacteria or fungus! We are trying or have tried every type of treatment. We are pretty fastidious people and do not have a pool or hot tub. We own a maytag neptune front loading washer that has had known problems with mildew...the manufacturerer is facing class action law suits. The problem is supposed to be corrected by running bleach with hot water through the machine periodically which we do as often as we dare. There is still mildew buildup! Anyway we would like to solve and eliminate this connection if there is one! We are looking into a new washing machine$$$$ Any ideas would be appreciated!

I have only some experince in a microbiology lab. But, I would guess no, I dont think infected follicles would be caused by mildew, but more likely by bacteria, which is different. Do you notice that your washer leaves your towels stinky? That happens to me when I dont get them into the dryer until to late, but Im lazy like that. Maybe it could be an irritating soap; too harsh of a soap could wipe out the normal bacteria on your skin, letting less common ones proliferate, which could cause follicle infections.

follicle can effectively be treated with antibiotics. this bacterial infection is in the staph family. be careful because different forms of staph are spreading rapidly. MRSA is the bad one, and alot of people are battling this. read up on these bacterial infections. alot of info on the net Report It