The need to improve screening and diagnostic methods in occupational irritant dermatitis

Abstract

Modern medicine has increasingly directed its interest towards discovering the etiology of occupational dermatitis, but unfortunately it is not completely elucidated. As with other occupational diseases, the presence of the exposure and the temporal relation between the exposure and the appearance of the characteristic signs is a defining element, but obtaining the information on the etiological factors is not always easy, therefore the attention must be directed to a systematic collection of these data. Clinical diagnosis is not sufficient, so additional paraclinical tests are needed for a complete diagnosis. Currently, more and more emphasis is being placed on experimental studies targeting the discovery of molecular or genetic markers that complement the idea of individual susceptibility in the appearance of contact dermatitis. As frequent as it is difficult to diagnose, occupational dermatitis is still a public health problem.