Families suffer as eczema cases soar

Dry, cracked, inflamed, itchy, pus-seeping, blistery skin with a on fire desire to be scratched - just thinking about it is enough to create a person's skin crawl eczema is rapidly rising in Australia with as many as one in four children rising the disease before the age of two.

Sufferers liken it to leprosy, even as dermatologists say it is sorely misunderstood and has a much greater impact on families than additional diseases, Brett McLennan, a husband and father of three who lives in Melbourne, says his families have battled eczema for years.

"My father had it when he was a child quite badly, other than back then there was really no solid treatment for eczema so he was have creams put on him and then being wrapped in plastic overnight to stop himself beginning scratching," he said,"And when I was a young child I had it quite badly, mainly around the annoying parts of my body like the back of my knees and my elbows the skin would dry out and would crack, particularly in summer when you're outside in the sun and the sand, so it was quite painful."