Childhood chronic prurigo: Interest in patch tests and delayed-reading skin prick tests to environmental allergens

Prurigo in Children of Tropical Zone: Epidemiological, Clinical, and Etiological Characteristics in a Dermatology Department in Cotonou (Benin)

Introduction

The objective of this work is to document the epidemiological, clinical, and etiological features of prurigo in children.

Methods

This is a descriptive and retrospective study done from January 2013 to September 2018 in the Dermatology Department of National and Teaching Hospital HKM of Cotonou. All children from 0–18 years diagnosed clinically with prurigo were the study sample. Visual analog scale was used to assess the severity of pruritus. The data were entered and analyzed with EpiData and Epi Info 7 software.

Results

The prevalence of prurigo was 14.9% (234/1565) in the pediatric population. The mean age of the children at the onset of the disease was 5.4 years ± 4.9 years. Their sex ratio was 0.8. Pruritus was reported in 97.8% of cases; it was moderate in 50% and severe in 50%. Several phenotypes were described, including erosivo-crusted prurigo (36.3%) and papulo-vesicular prurigo (32%). Frequently observed clinical forms were chronic (44.4%), acute (38.9%), impetiginized (8.1%), and lichenified (4.3%). Prurigo predominated on the lower limbs (74.8%), upper limbs (47.9%), and buttocks and trunk (24.8% each). The main etiologies were prurigo strophulus (PS) (55.5%), scabiosis (20.5%), prurigo of Besnier (10.7%), and hookworm cutaneous larva migrans (HCLM) (8.5%). The PS was seasonal (p=0.036), while prurigo of Besnier, scabies, and HCLM were perennial.

Conclusion

The main etiologies of prurigo in the study participants were PS, prurigo of Besnier, scabiosis, and HCLM. It affected with predilection the limbs of children of less than 5 years. Prurigo was almost always itchy and often evolved in an acute or chronic mode.

[What's new in clinical dermatology?]

In this article, we performed a review of all new data of clinical relevance for the dermatologists that were published in the medical literature between September, 2017 and September, 2018. Besides advances that will be useful in day-to-day dermatological practice, we intended to give a more general perspective to this review by taking into account certain international health issues that might in final concern each of us in a globalized world. Focus were more particularly done on the following topics: infectious diseases (including sexually transmitted infections), neglected tropical diseases, adverse effects of drugs, bullous diseases, allergology, wound healing, dermatology on black skin, and public health dermatology.