An overview of atopic eczema in children: a significant disease.

Atopic eczema is a significant disease, being the most common skin disorder in children, affecting 12-15% of all school-age children (Emerson et al, 1998). It is an inflammatory skin condition, which is genetic in origin but is triggered by many factors, such as detergents, emotional distress or dust mites (Buxton, 1998) and often starts in the first year of life. It is characterised by dry and itchy skin. This often breaks down and becomes infected, partly as a result of the close relationship of atopic eczema and the organism Staphylococcus aureus, which is found on the skin of most children with atopic eczema (Goodyear, 1993).