Many people get fungal infections and dermatitis due to the heat.

Tam Anh General Hospital has recorded many domestic and foreign patients coming to treat tinea versicolor, athlete's foot, and tinea versicolor... during the hot season.

In recent days, in front of dermatology clinics, many patients have been waiting for their turn to receive consultation and treatment for skin diseases. Most of the patients suffer from itching, dryness, flaking, burning pain...

Doctor Dang Thi Ngoc Bich, Dermatology - Cosmetic Dermatology specialist, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, examines a patient. Photo: Provided by the hospital — Dr. Dang Thi Ngoc Bich, Dermatology - Cosmetic Dermatology specialist, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, examines a patient. Photo: *Provided by the hospital*

Mr. Tran Thanh Tam (36 years old, Binh Thanh district) came back for a check-up after 5 days of treatment for fungal itching. Previously, he went to the doctor because the skin on his buttocks and groin was itchy and peeling. In the past two weeks, when the weather was hot, the itching became more severe.

Dr. Dang Thi Ngoc Bich, a dermatologist and cosmetic dermatologist at Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, noticed that the patient had many red circles and tiny blisters around them. The skin on her buttocks was dark and rough because the circles had healed and then recurred continuously.

The patient was diagnosed with tinea versicolor (or ringworm). He was prescribed oral antifungal and anti-itch medications and topical antifungal medications. After 5 days of treatment, Mr. Tam no longer had any itching or blisters, and the tinea versicolor circles were no longer red.

Mr. Quang has many white spots of pityriasis versicolor on his hands that cause a lot of itching. Photo: Provided by the hospital — Mr. Quang has many white spots of pityriasis versicolor on his hands that cause a lot of itching. Photo: *Provided by the hospital*

Also infected with fungus, Mr. Nguyen Huy Quang (33 years old, Binh Tan district) had other symptoms. He often played sports after work. More than two weeks before going to the doctor, he had itching all over his body, many red-brown spots on his back, chest, white spots on both arms and legs. He felt a stinging, itchy feeling when sweating.

Through examination, Dr. Dang Thi Ngoc Bich said that Mr. Quang's whole body had white and pink round spots, flaky skin, and was very itchy. The results of a fresh smear test for fungus found that he had pityriasis versicolor due to a fungus infection of the Malassezia furfur group. (fungus causing disease in the stratum corneum). The patient was prescribed oral and topical antifungal and anti-itch medications. After a week of treatment, the patient's itching stopped and the round spots faded.

After a week of treatment, Mr. Quang's back skin was less red, less itchy, and had smooth scales. Photo: Provided by the hospital — After a week of treatment, Mr. Quang's back skin was less red, less itchy, and had smooth scales. Photo: *Provided by the hospital*

In addition to patients being treated for fungal diseases, Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City also receives patients with dermatitis and pustules on the chest, neck, and head due to jobs related to high temperature environments and exposure to hot sun.

Mr. Phan Thanh Hai (42 years old, Tan Binh district) is a chef, often working in high temperature environments. When he stands near the kitchen, his chest skin is often red and slightly sore, but it will go away after bathing and resting for a few days. However, when the weather is hot, his skin becomes more red, spreading to his neck, chin and scalp, with pustules and itching occurring more often.

After examining the red pimples on his skin, Dr. Bich determined that he had folliculitis and seborrheic dermatitis. On the scalp, there were small red pimples and characteristic whiteheads that developed around the hair follicles. The patient felt pain in the scratched areas and the pimples had burst. On the chin, there were large, red, painful pimples.

Currently, Mr. Hai is prescribed oral anti-inflammatory and anti-itch medications, topical anti-infective medications, and shampoo and shower gel suitable for his skin type. After 5 days of treatment, the red pimples on his chest, neck, and chin have significantly reduced, and the pus and inflammation have disappeared.

Dr. Bich explained that Vietnam has a tropical climate with high humidity, and summer is a favorable environment for bacteria and fungi to grow.

Patients have jobs that require them to ride motorbikes outdoors for many hours, hot and sweaty, creating favorable conditions for fungi to grow, causing ringworm, athlete's foot, tinea versicolor, prickly heat, folliculitis, skin fungus, impetigo... Ringworm alone can be caused by up to 3 types of fungi. In addition, using shower gel containing high alkaline substances also creates a favorable environment for fungi to grow.

For people who work regularly in high temperature environments and are overweight, sweat and sebum are secreted a lot but cannot escape, causing blockage, creating conditions for bacteria to grow, causing dermatitis, intertrigo (skin folds), folliculitis... If the condition persists in hot weather and is not treated early, folliculitis will become severe.

People with weak resistance are in the group susceptible to skin fungus infection including: children under 5 years old, elderly people over 80 years old, people with underlying diseases (diabetes, tuberculosis, pneumonia, cancer, immunodeficiency)...

To prevent skin diseases in hot weather, people should pay attention to choosing clothes made of thin, cotton, soft, sweat-absorbent fabric, and not wearing tight clothes. After playing sports or working, you need to quickly dry sweat and clean your body.

People with skin fungus should wash and dry their clothes in the sun to kill fungus and fungal spores. Overweight people who sweat a lot can use talcum powder or cream to reduce moisture in skin folds such as the neck, groin, buttocks...

People also need to supplement vitamin C, minerals, and antioxidant foods to increase the body's resistance. People who have had foot fungus should dry their shoes in the sun or change to new shoes to avoid re-infection.

Skin diseases may not be dangerous to health, but they are persistent, uncomfortable, reduce the quality of life and affect work. Therefore, patients should take the initiative to prevent and limit the recurrence of the disease. When seeing strange manifestations on the skin, people need to see a dermatologist for early examination, thereby shortening the treatment time, saving costs, and helping to improve the quality of life.

Dinh Tien

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