7th Tropical Dermatology Course

Review

The 7th Course in Tropical Dermatology of the DDG and the ISDT was held from 17 to 22 October 2019 in Manaus. In cooperation with the Fundação de Dermatologia Tropical e Venereologia Alfredo da Matta and the Fundação de Medicina Tropical Heitor Vieira Dourado, a three-day course programme as well as a DDA-certified basic seminar were prepared.

Key facts

• Date: 17–22 October 2019
• Venue: Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
• Cooperation: Fundação de Dermatologia Tropical e Venereologia Alfredo da Matta and Fundação de Medicina Tropical Heitor Vieira Dourado
• Participants: 95 course participants, including 37 from Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as 58 from Brazil, Spain and Portugal
• Speakers: 21 speakers from Brazil and Germany

Programme focus

The course covered a broad spectrum of tropical dermatoses with particular reference to the Amazon region. Topics mentioned include endemic treponematoses, cutaneous leishmaniasis, leprosy, histoplasmosis, prurigo, scabies, folliculitis, Kaposi sarcoma, HIV and immune reconstitution syndrome, skin NTDs, paraneoplastic skin diseases, mycoses, fogo selvagem, snake bites, filariases, travel advice, lobomycosis, pigmentary disorders, cutaneous tuberculosis, STIs and skin diseases in children in Sierra Leone.

Clinical sessions

The European participants saw around 30 patients in the outpatient clinic and on the wards, observing among others leprosy, fogo selvagem, cutaneous leishmaniasis, chromoblastomycosis and lobomycosis. In small groups they also visited mycological and histopathological laboratories. On the final day of the course, patient presentations at the FUAM focused on various forms and complications of leprosy, chromomycosis and severe Darier’s disease.

Seminar component

Following the international course, a four-hour curricular basic seminar towards obtaining the DDA certificate was offered for German-speaking participants. The topics ranged from travel-associated infections and non-tropical dermatoses in tropical countries, through leading symptoms and STIs in the tropics, to the role of the Bundeswehr deployment dermatologist.