Hyderabad: Dermatological diseases like rashes, acne, hair fall, dandruff and skin allergies were found in 54.2 per cent of the girls who were surveyed in a clinical study in Sangareddy district.
Around 1,000 school children of Sangareddy town and surrounding areas of Medak district were studied for skin infections. Children are vulnerable to skin diseases and are prone to infections due to environmental problems, habits and literacy levels. Children aged between 11 and 15 years were studied.
The children were investigated and it was found that 754 of them, that is 75.4%, had skin diseases. Of these 409 (54.2 per cent) were girls and 345 (45.15 per cent) boys. 246 children of both genders were not affected.
Of the 754 children who had skin diseases, 255 were living in urban areas and 499 in rural areas in and around Medak district. Senior dermatologist Dr Laxmi Sharda said, “Environmental factors, hygiene and low awareness levels are the main reasons for rural areas having more skin infections and allergies than urban areas.”
In urban areas it was found that 114 girls, that is 44.9 per cent, and in rural areas 294 girls, that is 59 per cent, suffered from skin infections, allergies, hair fall, dandruff and pigmentation problems.
Senior dermatologist Dr V. Anand explained, “Scientifically there is no evidence that women are more prone to skin infections than men. Environmental factors do play a major role as we are now seeing more and more young girls getting menstrual cycles as early as 10 years. Early puberty means that there are hormonal changes in the body which lead to pigmentation, acne and hair fall in girls. With boys attaining puberty at a later stage their hormonal changes are seen after 13 or 14 years.”
Hygiene also plays a major role and in skin infections if there is no proper hand-washing and maintenance of personal hygiene skin infections are found to arise.
Dermatologist Dr J. Srinivas said, “In rural areas we find young girls helping parents in farms and doing household works. Skin allergies like rashes are often found due to this if hands, legs and face are not properly covered.”
Skin infections in children are studied often in clinical set-ups. There are teenagers and middle-aged adults who come with severe infections which they picked up during childhood.
Dr Sharda explained, “Often skin infections are very old and it is found that if proper treatment had been given during childhood it would not increase to acute levels. There are very limited ground studies on paediatric skin problems. Hence these help to understand the disease.”
