As has been known for many years, more or less prolonged exposure to the violet and ultraviolet rays of the sun, and naturally to those artificially produced, may cause not only systemic disturbances but also inflammatory and degenerative changes in the skin, varying with the person. The harmful systemic effects have not been well understood, and I will not deal with them here, save to state that deaths of infants following short exposure to ultraviolet radiation have been reported.1
From a cutaneous standpoint, persons with a mild or moderate susceptibility to light, and, as has been shown, to the rays of light in the violet end of the spectrum, are not uncommon; severe reactions, however, are rare. Yet it is important to recognize that under certain circumstances, to be noted presently, a potential susceptibility or an existent cutaneous disturbance due to light sensitization may be made decidedly worse by
GREENBAUM SS. DERMATOSES DUE TO LIGHT SENSITIZATION: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE CUTANEOUS DANGERS OF ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION IN CHILDREN. Am J Dis Child. 1927;34(1):81–94. doi:10.1001/archpedi.1927.04130190088006
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