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

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

In recent days, in front of dermatology clinics, many patients have been waiting their turn to be consulted and treated for skin diseases. Most of the patients have been suffering 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 came back for a check-up because his buttocks and groin were 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 - 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 black 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 medication and topical antifungal medication. After 5 days of treatment, Mr. Tam no longer had any itching or blisters, and the red tinea versicolor circles were no longer present.

Mr. Quang had many white spots of pityriasis versicolor on his hands that caused a lot of itching. Photo: Provided by the hospital — Mr. Quang had many white spots of pityriasis versicolor on his hands that caused 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 with fine scales and a lot of itching. The results of a fresh smear test for fungus found that he had tinea 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. But 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 (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 medication, topical anti-infective medication, and appropriate shampoo and shower gel for his condition. 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 whose job requires them to ride motorbikes outdoors for many hours, in hot weather and sweat, create favorable conditions for fungi to grow, causing tinea versicolor, tinea pedis, tinea versicolor, prickly heat, folliculitis, skin fungus, impetigo... There are up to 3 types of fungi that cause tinea versicolor. 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 blockages, 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 infections 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 choose clothes made of thin, cotton, soft, sweat-absorbent fabric, do not wear 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 athlete's foot 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, annoying, reduce the quality of life and affect work. Therefore, patients should proactively 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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