Nigerians warned against buying second hand clothing as it leads to skin infections

NIGERIANS have been warned to desist from buying second hand clothing as it has  negative health implications given that purchasers have no idea of the kind of ailments the previous users had.

Across Nigeria, there is a booming second hand clothing industry with the presence of large cloth markets in most of the major cities. However, Dr Kunle Adesina, a medical doctor at Nisssi Hospital in Masaka, Nasarawa State, has warned users of fairly used clothes to be cautious in patronising them due to its negative health implications.

Dr Adesina condemned the habit of people buying and using already used clothes, stressing that buyers had no idea of the health status of the first hand users before it was imported. He noted that users of fairly used cloths were prone to skin infections such as candidiasis, fungus skin disease, furunculosis and allergic skin disease among others.

According to Dr Adesina, candidiasis disease is a fungal infection of any of the candida (yeast) species, while furunculosis is the presence of furuncles or boils. He observed that second hand clothes might be cheap and affordable but admonished users who buy them to properly disinfect them by washing with warm water, antiseptic, sun dry them and then and iron them properly.

Dr Adesina said: “Although, some will buy and disinfect them by washing and ironing, others will buy because of the perceived nice odour and they will just bath and wear it immediately not knowing the health implications. You cannot compare any other disease with candidiasis infections, as they are notorious to treat even after washing the clothes and there is every tendency that the first hand user might have had candidiasis infections.

“Also, wearing of fairly used bra or pants is risky, as one can be infected with fungus skin or bacterial infection. That is why you see some people suffering from rashes and itches that have refused to go."

Furthermore, the physician stressed the psychological implication of buying second hand clothes by parents for their children, adding that it could to kids developing a second class mentality. He said that when a child grew up with the mentality of buying second hand clothes, it goes a long way in affecting the child to believing that anything second hand is good.

In addition, the medical doctor added that most of the second hand clothes had expired, emphasising that some had been used and over used, thus losing their quality. He pointed out that it will be better for an individual to buy new quality clothes that a child can wear for some months, than the one that will fade after a week of wash and wear.

Mary Stephen, a community health worker with the Primary Health Care Centre, Masaka, added that some women do come to the hospital with complains of itching in the virgina or rashes at the breast region. According to her, the way some people make use of those second hand wears is bad as such clothes are not supposed to be used for a long time before being discarded.