Contact allergic dermatitis remains a significant public health problem. Its diagnosis and prevention are complicated by the difficulty of identifying allergens responsible for a patient’s condition (i.e., those that have actually caused the allergic contact dermatitis). This article and a future follow-up article will provide an operational definition of causative allergens by discussing the challenges and the criteria, respectively.

Although predictive tests can identify potential allergens, it is only through a multi-step clinical correlation with current contact dermatitis that truly causative allergens can be identified. This is, however, not a simple matter for the reasons described here.

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Dermitological View--Defining Clinically Relevant Fragrance Allergens: The Challenge

By: Jurij J. Hostynek, PhD, University of California and Howard I. Maibach

Posted: April 30, 2007, from the May 2007 issue of Cosmetics & Toiletries.

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