dermatitis

Dermatitis and eczema are often used as synonyms to refer to a type of skin inflammation that represents the skin's allergic response to chemicals, proteins, bacteria, and fungi. The term eczema has no special meaning, while dermatitis has a limited meaning. If dermatitis is used as a diagnostic term instead of eczema, it refers to a combination of dermis and epidermis, which can be acute, subacute, and chronic. These three can exist together.