Analysis of skin diseases following a flood disaster

Abstract

Background: In September 2002, typhoon RUSA brought heavy rains to parts of Kangwondo province. The river rose above the flood stage, and muddy water covered many houses. Along the damaged infrastructures, there were many patients who needed medical care. Among them, a significant portion had dermatologic problems. Objective: The aim of this study was to find out the relationship between the floods and skin diseases. The other purpose was to evaluate how the floods can affect the distribution of dermatoses. Methods: The 177 dermatology patients who were flood victims were analyzed according to their sexs, age, and their diseases. Results: The results can be summarized as follows. Among 757 patients who were registered to special clinic for flood victims, 177 were seen in dermatology department. Although dermatology patients increased compared to ordinary times, the proportion of them decreased compared to that of flood victims in northern Kyonggi-do in 1998. In the second group of patients who were seen from September llth to 13th, the proportion of dermatology patients were increased to 23.0% compared to the first group of patients who were seen from September 4th to 6th(12.6%). In age distribution, the most frequent age groups were 3rd decade(24.3%), 4th decade(35.9%), 5th decade(25.4%) amounting to 85.6% of the total dermatology patients. The ratio of male to female was 1:2.1. The four most common dermatoses were eczematous dermatoses, superficial fungal infections, pruritus & urticaria, and infectious dermatoses. The most commonly used medications were oral antihistamines and topical steroids. Conclusion: The most common skin diseases among flood victims were eczematous dermatoses. It was contradictory finding compared to the victims of northern Kyunggido floods in 1998 who showed superficial fungal infection most commonly.