Skin diseases among peacekeepers at United Nations and African Mission in Darfur
Keywords:
Skin disease, dermatological problem, United Nations, peacekeepersAbstract
Objective To determine the frequency and pattern of cutaneous diseases among peacekeepers at a tertiary care hospital in United Nations and African Mission in Darfur, Sudan.Methods This descriptive study was conducted at dermatology outpatient department of United Nations peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) level III Hospital at Darfur, Sudan from March 2014 to Feb 2015. Peacekeepers of both gender reporting to dermatology OPD were registered after informed consent. Patients’ demographic profile, nature of duty, disease diagnosis and duration of illness were noted. The data was managed and analyzed using SPSS-17. Results A total of 542 peacekeepers of the age ranging from 20-60 years were analyzed. Eczema   was the most common disease (38.7%), followed by fungal infections (22.5%) and acne (10.7%). 47.6% of patients had the disease before deployment in mission area and 52.4% developed after reaching in mission area. Conclusion Eczema, dermatophytosis and acne were the commonest skin problems among peacekeeper. Almost half of these had dermatological problems before deployment. ÂReferences
Schissel DJ, Wilde JL. Operational dermatology. Mil Med. 2004;169:444-7.
Tasker AN. Diseases of the skin. In: Siler JF, editor. Communicable and Other Diseases. The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War, Vol 9. Washington, DC, Medical Department, U.S. Army, Office of the Surgeon General, 1928. P. 551-7.
MacKenna RM. Special contributions on military dermatology. Br Med Bull. 1945;3:158-61.
Pillsbury DM, Livingood CS, editors. Medical Department, United States Army, Internal Medicine in World War II, Vol 2. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 1968.
Allen AM, editor. Skin diseases in Vietnam. In: Medical Department, United States Army, Internal Medicine in Vietnam, Vol 1. Washington, DC, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1977.
O’Neill PE. Common skin diseases. In: WD James WD, editor. Military Dermatology: Textbook of Military Medicine. Washington, DC: Office of the Surgeon General; 1994.
Pehr K, Kornfeld BW. Dermatology in a war zone: a Persian Gulf experience. Int J Dermatol. 1992;31:494-7.
Hepburn NC. Dermatological problems in British troops during the Gulf War. Br J Dermatol. 1992;126:200-1.
Henning JS, Bahar FF. Combat dermatology: the prevalence of skin disease in a deployed dermatology clinic in Iraq. J Drugs Dermatol. 2010;9:210-4.
Henning JS, Bahar FF. Contribution of dermatologic surgery in war. Dermatol Surg. 2010;36:1-7.
Gan WH, Low R, Koh D. Dermatological conditions in military con- scripts. Occup Med. 2013;63:435-8.
Gentry RH. Bacterial skin diseases. In: James WD, editor. Military Dermatology: Textbook of Military Medicine. Washington, DC: Office of the Surgeon General; 1994.
May L, Porter C, Tribble D, Armstrong A. Self-reported incidence of skin and soft tissue infections among deployed U.S. military. Travel Med Infect Dis. 2011;9:213-20.
Dever TT, Walters M, Jacob S. Contact dermatitis in military personnel. Dermatitis. 2011;22:313-9.
United States Army: Jungle Training and Operations. Field Manual 31-30. Washington, DC: Department of Army.
Gatt P, Pace J. Environmental skin diseases in military personnel. Clin Dermatol. 2002; 20:420-4.
Lim DS. Dermatology in the military: an East Timor study. Int J Dermatol. 2005;44:304-11.
Winfield DA. Dermatological conditions in winter in primary health care on Operation Resolute (Bosnia). J R Army Med Corps. 1997;143:31-4.
Arnold JG, Michener MD. Evaluation of dermatologic conditions by primary care providers in deployed military settings. Mil Med. 2008;173:882-8.
Medical Support Manual for United Nations peace-keeping operations 1999 (2nd edition); Health care policies and procedures: 45-58.
