Skin diseases in flooded areas

• April 25, 2024

Infectious dermatitis and scabies are the most common problems among the population that suffers the ravages of a flood . The presence of mushrooms Y bacteria It is potentially increased by excess moisture and contaminated water. Every year, and especially during the rainy season, public health institutions in Mexico provide thousands of consultations dermatological by injuries , redness , itch , dry , peeling Y vesicles (Apollas full of liquid), among other skin symptoms. The conjunctivitis It is the infection with the highest incidence in the ophthalmological type, while the disorders in the urinary and genital tract are the result of changes in the hygiene habits of the affected population, because there is not enough drinking water or because the one that exists is contaminated. The situation worsens up to 80% for those people who live in remote and incommunicado areas, where they have to live practically in the water until the rescue brigades manage to take them to safer and drier areas.

Prevention measures

Due to the recent floods in in several states of the Republic , the specialists of the Ministry of Health and the Mexican Institute of Social Security, warn that the stagnant waters in which dog and cat droppings are mixed, as well as rodents, bring complications in the skin, mainly in the feet, so who recommend having as little contact as possible with this type of water. To prevent these diseases, it is necessary:

• Avoid the use of footwear with wet feet

• Dry off the feet between the fingers after bathing

• Use constantly medicines antifungals to prevent fungi (such as clotrimazole, miconazole, econazole or zinc undecylenate)

• Follow the treatment for several weeks.

Beware of mange

According to Dr. Víctor Manuel Narváez, Head of dermatology at the Hospital "Dr. Juan Graham Casasús "in Villahermosa, Tabasco, in flooded areas the overcrowding of people favors the spread of mange." In daily practice, we see more and more cases, especially in times of flooding, because when there is a need to evacuate people and take them to the same place as shelters, is when there is more risk. "Failure to control the parasite that causes scabies or scabies (sarcobter scabiae), can develop an epidemic." The part of the body that is most affected when scabies is suffered, in the case of children it is in the soles of the feet or the palms of the hands and in adults the place where it occurs is in the armpits and in the fingers, "the dermatologist said.

Video Medicine: Skin Problems After Flood (April 2024).