The Incidence of Dermatoses of Flood Victims in Northern Kyonggi-do, Korea

Lee, Min Geol; Park, In Ho

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There has been no reported paper about dermatoses of flood victims in Korea.
OBJECTIVE
We evaluated the distribution of dermatoses among flood victims in northern Kyonggi-do following flooding in August 1998. METHODS: One hundred eighty six patients who were flood victims were analyzed statistically.
RESULTS
The study results are summarized as follows: 1. Among the 186 patients, there were 57(30.6%) dermatologic patients. 2. In age distribution, the most frequent age groups were the 5th decade(35.1%), 6th decade(15.8%) and 4th decade(14.0%), amounting to 64.9% of all dermatologic patients. The ratio of male to female was 1: 2.4. 3. The distribution of common dermatoses in outpatients was superficial fungal infections(43.4%) and contact dermatitis(28.9%). 4. The distribution of dermatoses developed after the flooding was contact dermatitis(66.7%), acute urticaria(12.1%), erosion with secondary infection, impetigo, photosensitive dermatosis, insect bite and herpes zoster. And in many patients, contact dermatitis was developed within 2 days after the flooding. 5. The distribution of dermatoses recurred or aggravated after the flooding was superficial fungal infection(86.8%), seborrheic dermatitis(5.3%), aphthous stomatitis(5.3%) and herpes simplex(2.6%).
CONCLUSION
The common dermatoses after the flooding were superficial fungal infection and contact dermatitis.