Allergic Contact Dermatitis due to Medical Mask; A Case Report

WOS:000592369300009Allergic contact dermatitis occurs as a result of delayed hypersensitivity reaction caused by various exogenous substances. Here, a case of allergic contact dermatitis due to medical mask use is presented. A 39-year-old female patient was admitted to Allergy outpatient clinic with complaints of red and itchy maculopapular lesions, and small blisters on the cheeks, nasolabial folds, chin and neck under the chin that started three days ago. She had no chronic illness, massive sunshine exposure, history of systemic and topical medication intake and cosmetic use. The patient has been using washable masks for the whole COVID-19 pandemic period, however she used medical masks instead of washable ones 15 days ago once and for the last two days before the beginning of her complaints. Even though there was no reaction in her first contact, the above dermatitis lesions restricted to mask area developed 24-48 hrs after starting to use it for the second time. Allergic contact dermatitis was diagnosed due to skin lesions suitable with dermatitis and occurrence of the reaction after the second contact to a suspicious substance. She was recommended to stop using medical masks, and a treatment of oral antihistamine and topical steroid was prescribed. After her complaints resolved completely, a challenge with a different brand of medical mask was performed, and no reaction was observed. As a result, this case implicates that allergic contact dermatitis may occur due to using medical masks, and it is important to use masks with standardized approval since they are essential in preventing airborne infections including corona virus

Picturing asthma in Turkey: results from the Turkish adult asthma registry

Introduction: National data on asthma characteristics and the factors associated with uncontrolled asthma seem to be necessary for every country. For this purpose, we developed the Turkish Adult Asthma Registry for patients with asthma aiming to take a snapshot of our patients, thereby assigning the unmet needs and niche areas of intervention. Methods: Case entries were performed between March 2018 and March 2022. A web-based application was used to record data. Study outcomes were demographic features, disease characteristics, asthma control levels, and phenotypes. Results: The registry included 2053 patients from 36 study centers in Turkey. Female subjects dominated the group (n = 1535, 74.8%). The majority of the patients had allergic (n = 1158, 65.3%) and eosinophilic (n = 1174, 57.2%) asthma. Six hundred nineteen (32.2%) of the patients had obese asthma. Severe asthma existed in 670 (32.6%) patients. Majority of cases were on step 3–5 treatment (n: 1525; 88.1%). Uncontrolled asthma was associated with low educational level, severe asthma attacks in the last year, low FEV1, existence of chronic rhinosinusitis and living in particular regions. Conclusion: The picture of this registry showed a dominancy of middle-aged obese women with moderate-to-severe asthma. We also determined particular strategic targets such as low educational level, severe asthma attacks, low FEV1, and chronic rhinosinusitis to decrease uncontrolled asthma in our country. Moreover, some regional strategies may also be needed as uncontrolled asthma is higher in certain regions. We believe that these data will guide authorities to reestablish national asthma programs to improve asthma service delivery