Clinical Symptoms

What is it about?

Symptoms of acrodermatitis enteropathica among infants usually appear during the first few weeks after birth and sometimes after weaning from breast milk. It results in a manifestation of dermatological, psychological and gastrointestinal disorders.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

Dermatological disorders start with presence of skin lesions, perleche, plaques of dry and scaly skins, erythematous patches, and appearance of eczematous plaques on the face, scalp and genital area. After that, these lesions start to increase and move inside the mouth, on the extremities (including hands and feet) which is followed by paronychia and inflammation of palms, scaly skin on the neck and wrinkled fingers. Gastrointestinal symptoms start to appear next. They include diarrhea, abdominal pain and foul-smelling stools. Psychological symptoms of AE include decreased appetite, excitability and depression. Furthermore, growth retardation has been observed as one of the symptoms among infants and children that are close to their puberty. Other secondary symptoms of AE include photophobia, blepharitis, alopecia and anorexia (4).