Rashes in the hand seen in which diseases
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hand rash causes dermatitis scabies hand foot mouth disease CDC
A rash on the hands is not specific to one disease. Common causes include:
| Pattern/site on hands | Diseases to consider |
|---|---|
| Itchy, dry, cracked, scaly skin | Irritant or allergic contact dermatitis, atopic eczema, dyshidrotic eczema |
| Intense itch, especially finger webs/wrists and worse at night | Scabies |
| Small painful/itchy blisters on palms with mouth ulcers and foot lesions, usually children | Hand-foot-and-mouth disease (enterovirus/Coxsackie) |
| Target-shaped lesions, often hands/extensor surfaces | Erythema multiforme |
| Vesicles limited to one finger, painful | Herpetic whitlow (HSV) |
| Honey-colored crusts or spreading redness | Impetigo or bacterial skin infection |
| Papules/scales on palms and soles, sometimes generalized | Secondary syphilis, psoriasis, eczema, drug eruption |
| Purple spots/petechiae with fever, or palms/soles involved | Viral infections, vasculitis, meningococcal infection, or other serious systemic illnesses |
| Papules or purpura involving hands and feet with fever/oral erosions | Parvovirus B19 papular-purpuric gloves-and-socks syndrome |
| Fever plus pustular/vesicular lesions and swollen lymph nodes | Consider mpox, especially with relevant exposure |
Scabies commonly affects the finger web spaces and volar wrists, usually symmetrically, as described in the CDC travel dermatology guidance. Hand-foot-and-mouth disease classically causes peripheral hand, foot, and oral lesions, according to CDC clinical information.
Seek urgent medical care if the rash is associated with fever, rapidly spreading purple spots, severe pain, blisters, facial swelling, breathing difficulty, or eye/mouth involvement.
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