Cuban mother asks for help for her son who suffers from a rare skin disease.

A Cuban mother is asking for help for her 17-year-old son, who suffers from a rare skin disease that causes progressive hair loss and scarring on the scalp.

Roberto Carlos Cabrera Rodríguez has follicular decalvans, a chronic inflammatory disease that he has suffered from for five years and which has deteriorated him both physically and psychologically.

The young man lives in the municipality of Jesús Menéndez, Las Tunas, where the doctors tell him that nothing can be done.

"The response from the doctors is that there is no cure, that it is something chronic; I can no longer stand seeing my son suffer," Yurixandra Aurora Rodríguez said to the independent portal CubaNet.

The woman reported that the boy's ailment causes inflammation of the scalp and intense pain, burning, and itching. Almost all the time there is a lot of pus on his head, which prevents him from sleeping or eating.

"For days, there has been a lot of pus on his face; now it is draining from his neck. He can barely sleep as sometimes he can't place his head on the pillow. The doctors have told us that stress, heat, and sun exacerbate his condition, but how do we avoid that?" he wonders.

Roberto Carlos is in 12th grade, but this year he has only been able to go to school for two days. Last year, he missed about six months.

In recent years, he has been treated in several hospitals in Las Tunas by dermatologists and immunologists, but none of the treatments have had any effect. The last time, they sent him home without medication because "the disease has no cure."

However, a dermatologist with over 25 years of experience who spoke anonymously assured that decaying folliculitis does have treatment and that patients can improve significantly; what happens is that in Cuba there are neither conditions nor medications to treat it.

"The causes can be bacteria or fungi; that's why the treatment should be focused on combating both and it is long-term; it takes several months," he explained.

The specialist clarified that the adolescent must be admitted for thorough investigation and that he should undergo treatment under medical supervision. Two swabs need to be taken, one mycological and the other bacteriological, to obtain an accurate diagnosis.

For the moment, you need to take doxycycline, an antibiotic, and then follow up with antifungal medications. Additionally, you have to wash your hair frequently with boiled water and ketoconazole shampoo.

"The treatment is long, but possible if it is managed properly and with the medications it requires," he emphasized.

Roberto Carlos Cabrera Rodríguez is in the 12th grade, but this school year he has only been able to go to school for two days. Last year he missed about six months.