▲ Prof. Lee Ji-hyun and Han Joo-hee, Department of Dermatology, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital. ⓒSeoul St. Mary’s Hospital
A study published in an international scientific journal showed that patients with atopic dermatitis, a chronic skin disease, have a higher risk of contracting skin infections. In particular, the risk of developing a contagious water wart known as water wart was high.
Department of Dermatology, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, Department of Dermatology, Ji-hyeon Lee (co-corresponding author) ‧ Joo-hee Han (co-first author) and the research team of Professor Seok-jun Lee (co-corresponding author) and Researcher Jae-woong Yoon (co-first author) of Kwangwoon University School of Business Administration (co-first author) Mining, SPM) was used to analyze the relationship between atopic dermatitis and skin infection in an actual medical environment.
According to previous studies, it is known that patients with atopic dermatitis have an abnormality in epidermal function or systemic immune function, or the risk of skin infections increases due to a decrease in antibacterial peptides, a biological defense material.
The research team analyzed national health insurance data from 2010 to 2013 using SPM. Among them, 70,205 patients with atopic dermatitis were identified with the accompanying skin infection, and the time of onset of the skin infection was confirmed.
As a result of multiple regression analysis (statistical analysis), compared to healthy controls, patients with atopic dermatitis had contagious warts 5.273 times, impetigo 2.852 times, chickenpox 2.251 times, otitis media 1.748 times, eczema herpes (herpetic dermatitis) 1.292 times, and viruses. The risk of wart infection was 1.105 times higher.
In the SPM analysis, the infectious disease accompanying atopic dermatitis showed the highest prevalence at 1.06%, and it was observed as the shortest time of onset with an average of 77.42 days after the diagnosis of atopic dermatitis.
Professor Han Joo-hee said, “This study suggests that atopic dermatitis is associated with an increased risk of skin infections.