Common contact sensitizers in Delhi

Seventy-five patients of both sexes with clinically suspected contact dermatitis were patch tested with the Indian Standard Series and indigenous antigens. The results were compared with the data from other centers. Most of these patients were young adults between 20 and 39 yrs old with the mean age of 36.63 +/- 5.6 yrs. Their occupational profiles included household workers (17.33%), masons (10.66%), farmers (6.66%), factory workers (4%), medical personnel (4%), lab workers (2.66%), and miscellaneous (17.33%). Itching and burning were two of the most common complaints, and chronic dermatitis was the predominant morphologic pattern of the lesions observed. Frequent sites involved included the hands (40.83%), airborne type (22.44%), hands and feet (12.24%), feet (12.24%), face (10.2%), and neck (2.04%). Patch test analysis of these patients revealed that, out of 75 subjects tested, 49 (65.3%) reacted to one or more allergens. Parthenium (20%) is the most common contact sensitizer followed by potassium dichromate (16%), xanthium (13.33%), nickel sulphate (12%), chrysanthemum (8%), mercaptobenzothiazole, and garlic (6.66% each). These findings are in broad conformity with those in other reports. We concluded that the Indian Standard Series of antigens with the addition of a few more (such as garlic, onion and chlorheximide of local relevance) is suitable for detecting the allergens responsible for the contact dermatitis prevailing in this region.