Thank you Professor, for this helpful article. I live in the tropics (Dominican Republic), where I have a variety of dermatitis issues. There are several plants that give rashes (including a giant stinging nettle), insects that bite, and fungi that attack (especially in the summer when I often work in a sweat-soaked t-shirt). Cortisone cream would be a tempting option, but I know from experience that it would soon lead to skin infections from scratching the particularly annoying insect bites or other itches. I can go a while alternating between cortisone, antihistamine (benadryl), and anti-fungal cream. But disappointingly, sometimes I have to simply take two or three days "off" to let the skin have a rest.