Dermatitis garlic

Bassioukas, K., Orton, D., and Cerio, R., Occupational airborne allergic contact dermatitis from garlic with concurrent Type I allergy, Contact Dermatitis, 50, 39, 2004. 

Adverse reactions may include acneiform eruptions allergic dermatitis arthropathy multiple cases of cholestatic and fulminant hepatitis drowsiness fatigue headache hepatotoxicity resembling viral or alcoholic hepatitis impotence metallic or garlic-like aftertaste peripheral neuropathy polyneuritis optic or retrobulbar neuritis restlessness occasional skin eruptions. 

Following oral ingestion, adverse effects may include nausea (6%), hypotension (1.3%), allergy (1.1%), and bleeding (rare). Breath odor has been reported with an incidence of 20-40% at recommended doses using enteric-coated formulations. Contact dermatitis may occur with the handling of raw garlic. 

Topical administration of garlic can lead to allergic contact dermatitis or burn-like skin lesions (8). 

Two Korean patients used topical garlic for pruritus and subsequently developed irritant contact dermatitis of the treated skin areas (10). Withdrawal resulted in full recovery. 

Of about 1000 patients with occupational skin diseases, five had occupational allergic contact dermatitis from spices (11). They were chefs or workers in kitchens, coffee rooms, and restaurants. In all cases the dermatitis affected the hands. The causative spices were garlic, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and clove. The same patients had positive patch-test reactions to carrot, lettuce, and tomato. 

Lee TY, Lam TH. Contact dermatitis due to topical treatment with garlic in Hong Kong. Contact Dermatitis 1991 24(3) 193-6. 

A group of 50 catering workers with eczema or dermatitis of the hand or arm were studied for suspected occupational dermatitis. All workers were prick tested with foods that commonly irritated their hands at work, as well as patch tested with garlic 50% in arachis oil, onion 50% in arachis oil, and pieces of the same prick test foods. Seven workers reacted to 50% garlic in oil and one reacted to whole garlic (92). 

Housewives were found to be more likely to experience contact dermatitis of the hand than those exposed to garlic in other job settings such as chef, agricultural, and industrial positions. A group of 93 patients were patch tested with diallyl disulfide. Of these, 22.6% tested positive for allergy, 79.5% of whom were women. Dermatological eruptions were primarily located on the hand however, lesions were also seen on the feet, head, legs, and in widespread distribution (93). 

Topically applied garlic can cause garlic burns as well as allergic garlic dermatitis. A 17-month-old infant suffered partial thickness burns when a plaster made of garlic in petroleum jelly was applied to the skin for 8 hours (98). Another infant, age 6 months, suffered garlic burns when his father, disappointed that no antibiotics had been prescribed for a treatment of sus-... 

Eight patients who developed contact dermatitis after rubbing cut fresh garlic cloves on fungal skin infections responded to a topical fluorinated ste-... 

Kaplan B, Schewach-Millet M, Yorav S. Facial dermatitis induced by application of garlic. Int J Dermatol 1990 29 15 75-76. 

Delaney TA, Donnelly AM. Garlic dermatitis. AustrJ Dermatol 1996 37 109-110. 

Jappe, U., Bonnekoh, B., Hausen, B.M. and Gollnick, H. (1999) Case report Garlic-related dermatoses Case report and review of the literature. Am. J. Contact. Dermatitis. 10 37-39. 

The safety limit between selenium, as an important micronutrient in human diet, and the appearance of toxic symptoms is quite small. The main symptoms from the uptake of an increased selenium quantity are dermatitis, vertigo, fragile nails, gastric disorders, hair loss, and garlic odor during breathing. 

External applications of raw garlic may cause skin irritation, contact dermatitis, or chemical bum (Friedman et al. 2006). 

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