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Figure 1. Representative pictures of the feet of 2 miners 1 day after they were rescued from the mine.
80 80
Miners, %
60 60
40 40
20 20
0 0
Before After Before After
80 80
Miners, %
60 60
40 40
20 20
0 0
Before After Before After
B
10 Irritation 10
Scaling
Score
5 5
0 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Miners, No. Miners, No.
10 Dry skin
Before using the socks
After using the socks
Score
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Miners, No.
Figure 2. Miners’ self-reported scores of whether (A) and to what degree (B) they experienced indicated skin conditions before and after they received the copper
oxide–containing socks. 0 Indicates absent condition; 10, most severe condition. Rank sum t tests were conducted to compare between scores for the various
attributes before and after using the socks.
very favorable for fungal and bacterial growth is prob- als who are regularly exposed to very harsh conditions
ably the best clinical trial possible to demonstrate the might also benefit, including policeman, sailors, and
high efficacy of Cupron socks in treating foot skin in- soldiers.
fections. Socks are universally used. The copper oxide–
containing socks feel exactly like any regular sock. Gadi Borkow, PhD
Thus, using such a simple, widely used “device” may be Juan Carlos Mellibovsky, MD
extremely useful in protecting the feet of about 20% of
the world’s population who experience athlete’s foot,4 Author Affiliations: Cupron Inc, Modi’in, Israel (Dr
and miners in particular, who have high rates of ath- Borkow); Department of Dermatology, Regional Hospi-
lete’s foot infections (80%-90%).5 Many other individu- tal of Copiapo, Atacama, Chile (Dr Mellibovsky).