The 10 minute consultation by Sahnan et al (1) was meant to be an educational piece notwithstanding some critical responses it evoked among the readers. The perplexing issue to me was the use of the term "pruritis" to describe itching. This misnomer is not new to medical literature and is characteristic of non-dermatology journal publications and of authors belonging to English speaking countries(2). It would be worthwhile to have a debate on what is the correct word to describe itching: is it pruritis or pruritus? Until this confusion on the nomenclature is resolved, people like me belonging to non-English speaking countries will continue to be perplexed.
Rapid Response:
Re: Anal itching
The 10 minute consultation by Sahnan et al (1) was meant to be an educational piece notwithstanding some critical responses it evoked among the readers. The perplexing issue to me was the use of the term "pruritis" to describe itching. This misnomer is not new to medical literature and is characteristic of non-dermatology journal publications and of authors belonging to English speaking countries(2). It would be worthwhile to have a debate on what is the correct word to describe itching: is it pruritis or pruritus? Until this confusion on the nomenclature is resolved, people like me belonging to non-English speaking countries will continue to be perplexed.
References:
1. http://www.bmj.com/content/355/bmj.i4931.
2.http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/fullarticle/209509.
Competing interests: No competing interests