Occupational skin disease was investigated in more than 5,000 healthcare workers. Wearing a face mask for more than 3 h daily was associated with facial skin disease, most commonly eczema and acne. Washing hands with soap more than 20 times daily and wearing gloves for more than 3 h daily was associated with hand eczema. Healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients were more exposed to face masks, soap, and gloves, and more often had face and hand skin disease. This indicates that the specific work routines related to the care of patients with COVID-19 increases the risk of occupational skin disease.The COVID-19 pandemic has led to enhanced hygiene procedures and use of personal protective equipment, but also to increased attention to occupational skin disease in healthcare workers. The occurrence of hand and facial skin disease in > 5,000 Swedish healthcare workers was investigated in a questionnaire survey. Levels of skin exposure related to hygiene proce dures and personal protective equipment were recorded. Caring for patients with COVID-19 entailed higher levels of wet work and face mask exposures, and was associated with higher 1-year prevalence of both hand eczema (36%) and facial skin disease (32%) compared with not being directly engaged in COVID-19 care (28% and 22%, respectively). Acne and eczema were the most common facial skin diseases; for both, a dosedependent association with face mask use was found. Dose-dependent associations could be shown between hand eczema and exposure to soap and gloves, but not to alcohol-based hand disinfectants.

Epithelialization and blood flow in painlessly inflicted small suction blister wounds were studied in healthy volunteers (n = 26) using evaporimetry and laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF), respectively. As expected, the evaporation rate normalized faster in wounds covered by an occlusive film than in wounds covered with gauze. The evaporimetry technique was found to be a simple alternative to the biopsy-based methods that have previously been used in humans. Blood flow was increased after 25 min of suctioning, and the hyperemia increased further after equalization to atmospheric pressure. This wound hyperemia (day 1) was more pronounced than that observed during heating of adjacent skin, and more pronounced at a pressure of 400 mm Hg below atmospheric pressure than at 200 mm Hg below. The hyperemic response lasted for some days and was similar on arm and foot. A mechanical LDF linear scanner was used to create a flow profile across the wound into the adjacent skin. Six months after inflicting the lesions there was no visible scar. The findings suggest that this blister wound model may be useful for studying epithelialization and microcirculatory events after trauma and during early wound healing in humans.

Background There is a strong and consistent association between IgE sensitization and allergy, wheeze, eczema and food hypersensitivity. These conditions are also found in non-sensitized humans, and sensitization is found among individuals without allergy-related diseases. The aim of this study was to analyse the sensitization profile in a representative sample of the population, and to relate patterns of allergens and allergen components to allergic symptoms. Methods A population of 195 adolescents took part in this clinical study, which included a self-reported questionnaire and in vitro IgE testing. Results Sensitization to airborne allergens was significantly more common than sensitization to food allergens, 43% vs. 14%, respectively. IgE response was significantly higher in airborne allergens among adolescents with rhinitis (p < 0.001) and eczema (p < 0.01). Among 53 children with allergic symptoms according to the questionnaire, 60% were sensitized. Sensitization to food allergens was found among those with rhinitis, but only to PR-10 proteins. None of the participants had IgE to seed storage proteins. Conclusion The adolescents in this study, taken from a normal Swedish population, were mainly sensitized to grass pollen and rarely to specific food allergens. The major grass pollen allergen Phl p 1 was the main sensitizer, followed by Cyn d 1 and Phl p 2. Sixty-one percent reporting any allergic symptom were sensitized, and the allergen components associated with wheeze and rhinoconjunctivitis were Fel d 4, Der f 2 and Can f 5.

No abstract

Simultaneous contact allergies are common in individuals with photocontact allergy to ketoprofen. The rate of contact allergy to the fragrance substances oxidized linalool and oxidized limonene in ketoprofen-photoallergic individuals were investigated in comparison with the corresponding rates in individuals without photocontact allergy to ketoprofen, using Fisher’s exact test. A total of 4,021 patients were routinely tested with oxidized linalool; of whom 190 (4.7%) tested positively. For oxidized limonene the numbers were 3,797 patients and 111 positive reactions (2.9%). A total of 19 contact allergic reactions to oxidized linalool were noted in 29 patients (65.5%) who also had photocontact allergy to ketoprofen ( p < 0.0001). The corresponding figures for oxidized limonene were 10 positive reactions in 24 ketoprofen-photoallergic individuals (41.7%) ( p < 0.0001). Contact allergy to oxidized linalool and/or oxidized limonene is common in routinely tested patients with dermatitis and, particularly, in those patients who are photoallergic to ketoprofen.