Skin lesions associated with personal protective equipment in medical workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Aim. Analysis of the incidence of personal protective equipment (PPE)-associated dermatoses among medical workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.Materials and Methods. Screening of the papers indexed by PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar, eLibrary, and UpToDate databases, written in English and published from January 1, 2020 to October, 2021. The search keywords were: "medical workers", "skin", "dermatoses", "professional", and "personal protective equipment" in combination with "COVID-19" and "SARS-CoV-2".Results. Occupational contact dermatitis is responsible for 20% of all cases of contact dermatitis which accounts for 90% of all skin disease cases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, from 42.8% to 97.0% of medical workers reported about skin lesions provoked by prolonged wearing of PPE in combination with regular disinfection. About 61.7% of them noted the deterioration of a pre-existing skin disease, and 90.5% reported the appearance of new skin lesion symptoms associated with the PPE usage. The most common symptoms of skin lesions among medical workers were dryness, itching, burning, soreness, and skin rash. Irritant and allergic contact dermatitis, acne, rosacea, and seborrheic dermatitis were the most prevalent skin disorders among the interviewed medical workers. Risk factors for the development of PPE-associated dermatoses were the type and material of PPE, the duration of PPE wearing, and past medical history of skin diseases. Due to the increased incidence of PPE-associated dermatoses among the medical staff, some countries have developed recommendations on the prevention and treatment of undesirable PPE-associated skin reactions in medical professionals. Current research are focused on developing special tools and devices that would serve as a protective barrier between the skin and PPE, ameliorating the damaging effect of the latter.Conclusion. PPE-associated dermatoses are currently widespread among the medical workers, highlighting the need in novel materials for PPE manufacturing to minimise the risk of developing PPE-associated skin lesions.