Pattern of skin disease at the Ethio-Swedish Pediatric Hospital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Although skin diseases are common in children, only a very few prospective studies are available, in the literature, mainly from developed countries. This work reports the pattern of skin diseases in a tertiary referral hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from June 1995 to July 1997. A total of 1000 consecutive new pediatric patients, ages 0-12 years, were studied. The male:female ratio was 1:1. Allergic skin diseases were most frequently found (55%), followed by infections (33%) and photodermatosis (8%). Of the allergic skin diseases, atopic dermatitis was the most prevalent (47%), followed by seborrheic dermatitis (17.4%).