Abstract
It is frequently stated that children are less susceptible to the development of allergic contact dermatitis and that they are more prone to irritant reactions on patch‐testing. It is also said that reactivity is generally less in the elderly. An analysis of 10 years' patch‐test results at Wycombe General Hospital show that none of these statements is, in fact, correct. Children, although in general having a lower risk of contact exposure, deliver a very high yield of relevant positive patch‐test reactions following selective patch‐testing and a substantial number of girls have already become nickel‐sensitive by the time they are 16 years of age. Although the allergen environment again becomes simpler with increasing age (and some old sensitivities are thereby lost) many elderly patients continue to have a reactive skin and allergen recall well into the seventh decade. Differences in the pattern of sensitivity and reactivity between the two age groups will be detailed and discussed.
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