Title: Infectious skin diseases among children attending the Dermatology Outpatient Department
Authors: Dr Sunil Chaudhari, Dr Sushil Rathi
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v5i12.64
Abstract
Background: Skin lesions are a common problem in pediatric age group. The etiology of these lesions can be bacterial or viral infections, helminthic infestation and inflammatory lesions. Some of these lesions may be congenital like salmon patch or strawberry angiomas etc. Pediatric patients being brought for various skin lesion forms a major part of dermatology OPD hence it is important from the point of view of a dermatologist to be aware of common pediatric dermatological problems or skin lesions so as to be able to accurately diagnose and manage such conditions.
Materials and Methods: The study was approved by institutional ethical committee. This was a prospective observational study of all children between the age group of 0-12 years brought to dermatology OPD of our institute during the study period. A detailed history and thorough clinical examination was done in all the cases. Diagnosis mainly was done on the basis of clinical examination. Relevant investigations were done whenever necessary. The data was analysed using SPSS 16.0 version software.
Results: There were 200 pediatric patients who were included in this study on the basis of inclusion criteria. Out of these patients there were 120 (60%) boys and 80 females (40%) with a M: F ratio of 1:0.66. The age ranged from 1 day to 12 years with a mean age of 4.9 years. 90 (45 %) patients belonged to age group of 1-5 years. Common skin lesions included scabies (41 %), pyoderma (24 %), viral exanthema (16.5 %), superficial fungal infections (12.5 %). Pediculosis was seen in 6 % patients.
Conclusion: Pediatric consultations for various skin lesions are common. In addition to usual dermatological problems congenital skin lesions may be seen in neonatal period or infancy. It is important from the point of view of a dermatologist to be well aware of various skin lesions seen in pediatric age group so as to be able to properly treat these patients.
Keywords: Skin lesions, pediatric age group, Congenital skin lesions, Management.
