What is dermatitis?

• A. A venous condition.
• B. A type of bacterial infection.
• C. Inflammation of the skin.
• D. Liver disease

Answer: (C)

Dermatitis means inflammation of the skin. When the skin is inflamed, it often becomes red, swollen, and very itchy, and it may blister, crack, or ooze. This reaction can come from irritants or allergies, and there are different forms, such as contact dermatitis from something you touch and atopic dermatitis, commonly called eczema, which can be long-lasting and itchy. It’s not a venous condition like problems with veins, not a bacterial infection (even though scratched skin can get infected later), and not liver disease, which involves organs and body systems beyond the skin. So dermatitis is best understood as the skin’s inflammatory response.