EPIDEMIOLOGICAL FEATURES OF SKIN DAMAGE IN RESIDENTS OF TERNOPIL REGION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11603/1811-2471.2024.v.i3.14936Keywords:
skin, erythema migrans, epidemiology, age, sexAbstract
SUMMARY. The aim – to evaluate the epidemiological features of skin damage in patients living in Ternopil region.
Material and Methods. We examined 186 patients with erythema migrans (EM), who during 2017-2023 were on outpatient and inpatient treatment at the Ternopil Regional Clinical Dermatology and Venereology Dispensary with skin damage in the form of erythema migrans. There were 70 men (37.6 %) and 111 women (59.7 %) aged 19 to 65 years. Most of the subjects (149; 80.1 %) were of active working age (under 60 years).
Criteria for inclusion in the study: patients aged 19 to 65 years; residence in a Lyme-borreliosis (LB) endemic region and/or a history of tick bite; skin lesions (erythema migrans); not taking immunomodulators and not vaccinated within the last 30 days before blood sampling. Patients who did not meet these criteria were not included in the study. All patients signed an informed consent to participate in the study and received a patient information sheet.
Results. It was found that among patients with erythema migrans aged 40-49 and 60-69 years, women prevailed over men; the least number of migratory erythema was noted in patients under the age of twenty, p<0.05. The most common skin lesions in the form of erythema migrans were noted by patients who sought care in 2017-2019 and 2022-2023, p<0.05. Erythema was most often diagnosed in patients who sought medical care for the appearance of erythema migrans before the twentieth day after a possible tick attack, p<0.05.
Conclusions. The presence of erythema migrans of various forms requires an in-depth study of the causes of this skin lesion and the appointment of adequate treatment.
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