TUESDAY, March 7 (HealthDay News) -- The top 10 contact dermatitis agents include nickel sulfate hexahydrate and some topical antibiotics, according to research presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology in San Francisco.
Mark Davis, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and colleagues compared the results of patch testing with a standard series of up to 71 allergens from January 2001 through December 2002, with findings on 65 allergens by the North American Contact Dermatitis Group during the same period.
The researchers report that out of 1,632 patch-tested patients, 71.8 percent had at least one positive reaction, and 52.3 percent had two or more positive reactions.
The top 10 allergens in both groups were nickel sulfate hexahydrate, balsam of Peru (Myroxylon pereirae), neomycin sulfate, cobalt chloride, fragrance mix, potassium dichromate, thimerosal, bacitracin, formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde.
"With a large standard patch test series, one can identify commonly encountered and potentially relevant contact allergens," the authors write.
Abstract 12, P22
