Investigation of an unexplained skin disorder in a prison clinic in the Netherlands in 2002

J G Breugelmans; A Bosman; A. K van der Heide; E. Y.R Roeleveld-Kuijper; D P Bruynzeel

doi:10.2807/esm.08.04.00407-en

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Investigation of an unexplained skin disorder in a prison clinic in the Netherlands in 2002

J G Breugelmans^1,2, A Bosman², A. K van der Heide³, E. Y.R Roeleveld-Kuijper³, D P Bruynzeel⁴
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Affiliations: ¹ Robert Koch-Institut, Department of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology, Berlin, Germany ² European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET) ³ Ministry of Justice, Department of Care, The Hague, the Netherlands ⁴ Vrije Universiteit, Medical Centre, Department of Environmental & Occupational Dermatology, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

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Citation style for this article: Breugelmans J G, Bosman A, van der Heide A. K, Roeleveld-Kuijper E. Y.R, Bruynzeel D P. Investigation of an unexplained skin disorder in a prison clinic in the Netherlands in 2002. Euro Surveill. 2003;8(4):pii=407. https://doi.org/10.2807/esm.08.04.00407-en

Abstract

An unexplained outbreak of skin disorder with itching papules or pustules occurred among drugs body packers in a detention clinic in the Netherlands in October-November 2002. The descriptive cohort study suggests this outbreak could be associated with an expired batch of disposable linens, with an overall attack rate of 30% in the study population (n=118). No additionnal cases have been noted since this expired batch was replaced.