Epidemiological, clinical, and etiological features of pediatric prurigo in Morocco: About 168 cases

Abstract

Prurigo is a frequent disease in childhood. The aim of our work is to document the epidemiological, clinical, and etiological features of prurigo in children. It is a retrospective study carried out from January 2016 to December 2023 in the pediatric dermatology consultation of Ibn Rochd University Hospital in Morocco. All children from 0–14 years diagnosed clinically with prurigo were included. The prevalence of prurigo was 18% in the pediatric population. The mean age at the onset of the disease was 2.43 years. Pruritus was reported in all patients. Three subgroups were identified: estival prurigo: 43.45% of cases, per-annual: 25.60% of cases, and seasonal non-estival prurigo: 30.95% of cases. Thirty-five percent of patients reported an exacerbation of lesions by the consumption of histamine-releasing foods or those containing additives and colorants. Estival prurigo is the most common form of prurigo in children, lesions predominate in exposed areas and are induced by mosquito bites. Our study highlights a possible association with histamine-liberating foods.