Pattern of skin diseases at The Children’s Hospital, Lahore: comparison between 1996-1998 and 2011

Objective: To determine the pattern of skin diseases at the Children’s Hospital, Lahore and compare the results with 1996-1998 data. Patients and methods: All newly diagnosed children (≤ 18 years), n=9766 with skin diseases were included in the study and categorized into top ten common disease groups. Results were compared with the previous data of same center. Results: The mean age of study population was 8.6±7.4 years with 4945 (50.6%) male and 4821 (49.4%) female children. The ten common skin diseases were bacterial infections (2568; 26.3%), eczema (2172; 22.3%), infestations (1664; 17%), fungal infections (933; 9.6%), viral infections (656; 6.7%), vascular/ hypersensitivity reactions (489; 5%), disorders of glands (371; 3.8%), pigmentary diseases (218; 2.2%), papulosquamous/ disorders of keratinization (202; 2.1%), nevoid/genodermatoses (202; 2.1%). Miscellaneous dermatoses were diagnosed in 291 (2.9%) patients. Conclusion: Communicable skin diseases (infections and infestations) still prevail in our community. No significant difference in the disease pattern was seen when compared to 1996-1998 data.