Childhood dermatitis in the tropics: with special emphasis on infective dermatitis, a marker for infection with human T-cell leukemia virus-I

ABSTRACT

Eczema in the tropics is a common problem. Although it is a major cause of discomfort among children worldwide, a warm tropical climate often has important repercussions for children with dermatitis. The original description by Sweet empahasized that interest in tropical eczemas extended to the English, as children of West Indian immigrants in England were affected. Likewise, immigrants may carry these disorders with them to the United States. In Jamaica, a tropical country, the largest and most populous of the English-speaking Caribbena islands, eczema is by far the most common skin disorder seen in children attending dermatology clinics. Reports from other Caribbean islands suggest that this is true for the region as a whole. In 1981, Alabi and La Grenade reported that from 1971 to 1975 eczema accounted for 46.7 percent of skin rashes seen in children at the University Hospital of the West Indies. Review of the period 1988 to 1993 showed that 52 percent of the 601 children who attended the skin clinic for the first time had eczema, confirming the earlier finding. In this latter review, atopic eczema was the most common type of eczema (52 percent), followed by seborrheic eczema (20 percent) and infective dermatitis (10 percent). The remaining 18 percent had a variety of unclassified eczemas including pityriasis alba, discoid eczema, acute vesicular eczema of the hands and/or feet, and hyperkeratotic eczema of the feet.(AU)