LABOURERS in factories in South Malaya who cut up pineapples by hand for canning invariably show an abnormality of those parts of the body which are exposed to slight pressure and pineapple juice, notably the palmar surfaces of the fingertips and the periphery of the palms. At the beginning of the canning season, the left hand, which comes more into contact with the fruit than the knife-holding hand, becomes sore and small superficial raw areas on the fingertips are often seen. Within several days, however, these heal, and the skin ceases to be sore. The labourers state that this tolerance to the pineapple juice is due to the development of an abnormality of the skin, which in the affected area becomes bluish-white and so smooth that fingerprints may be completely lost. Deep cracks are sometimes seen in the region of the skin creases. These often stay raw and bleeding for a long time, and show no clinical signs of infection, presumably because of removal of dead tissues by enzymatic action.
Cement is a common cause of dermatitis. Workers affected are usually those in cement factories and at building construction sites. Cement dermatitis among port-workers is not so commonly reported. This paper describes an outbreak of dermatitis among stevodores at a port handling cement. The cement was imported in bags, and because of breakage, there was much spillage. It was also hot and dusty inside the hatch of the ship, and some of the stevodores worked bare-bodied. Cases of dermatitis began to appear in January 1983 and reached a peak in April 1983, gradually subsiding over the next few months to August 1983. This coincided with the increased tonnage of cement handled at the port. A total of 33 stevodores were reported as having dermatitis over this period. Of the 15 cases examined, 13 had eczema, and in 19 the hands and wrists were affected. However, most of the cases had multiple site involvement, including the arms, legs and abdomen.
Samples of cement showed the presence of water-soluble chromium, varying from 9.9 to 17.8pg/g. As the stevodores were reluctant to go for skin patch-testing, only four were tested, but two did not return for the reading of the results. The other two were found to have a positive reaction to dichromates. The outbreak of dermatitis was probably due to several factors which are discussed.
Glove wearing during patient treatment has been central to dental surgery infection control for over 15 years. However, little is known about the cutaneous effects of glove wearing on the hands of dental healthcare workers (DHCWs). The objective of this project was to assess the hand skin health of DHCWs before and after wearing gloves of two types and to compare this with a control group of non-DHCWs.