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Is contact allergy in man lifelong?
Author(s) -
Lee Ernest E.,
Maibach Howard I.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
contact dermatitis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1600-0536
pISSN - 0105-1873
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-0536.2001.044003137.x
Subject(s) - contact allergy , allergy , medicine , dermatology , immunology , patch test , contact dermatitis , intensive care medicine
In contradistinction from certain strains of mice, contact allergy in man is hypothesized to be either lifelong or at least to last for years. We examined follow‐up studies on contact allergy, as evaluated by patch testing, attempting to quantify its natural history. The allergens include colophonium, gold sodium thiosulfate, nickel, and cobalt. At present, due to technical limitations, we cannot state in quantitative terms whether contact allergy in man is lifelong and whether its clinical manifestations change. Thus, we list some criteria for future studies which may help resolve the above question.