Rare diseases · Sign or symptom
Pruritus
Itching
HP:0000989
What it means
Pruritus is an itch or a sensation that makes a person want to scratch. This term refers to an abnormally increased disposition to experience pruritus.
In everyday care
Most people with this sign do not have a rare disease — it appears in common conditions far more often. These general reference pages cover the same topic:
Rare diseases that can present with this128
Very common80–99%
34- Acquired ichthyosis
- Adult-onset Still disease
- Autosomal dominant hyper-IgE syndrome due to STAT3 deficiency
- Autosomal erythropoietic protoporphyria
- Benign recurrent intrahepatic cholestasis
- Bullous diffuse cutaneous mastocytosis
- Chromomycosis
- Chronic actinic dermatitis
- Classic mycosis fungoides
- Congenital ichthyosiform erythroderma
- Cutaneous mastocytosis-deafness-microtia syndrome
- Darier disease
- Dermatitis herpetiformis
- Diffuse cutaneous mastocytosis
- Dissecting cellulitis of the scalp
- Dracunculiasis
- Dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa pruriginosa
- Familial cold urticaria
- Hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitis
- Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy
- Lamellar ichthyosis
- Lichen amyloidosis
- Localized epidermolysis bullosa simplex
- Malakoplakia
- Netherton syndrome
- Pemphigoid gestationis
- Prolidase deficiency
- Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy
- Reynolds syndrome
- Sézary syndrome
- Solar urticaria
- Uremic pruritus
- Wells syndrome
- Wilson disease
Common30–79%
45- Acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis
- African trypanosomiasis
- Aggressive systemic mastocytosis
- Anal fistula
- Bullous pemphigoid
- Cholangiocarcinoma
- Classic Hodgkin lymphoma
- Cutaneous mastocytoma
- Dengue fever
- Dermatomyositis
- Diffuse palmoplantar keratoderma, Bothnian type
- Epidermolysis bullosa simplex with circinate migratory erythema
- Familial thrombocytosis
- Focal dermal hypoplasia
- Generalized eruptive keratoacanthoma
- Glucagonoma
- Graham Little-Piccardi-Lassueur syndrome
- Hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer
- Hyperkeratosis lenticularis perstans
- IgA pemphigus
- Indolent systemic mastocytosis
- Jessner lymphocytic infiltration of the skin
- Juvenile dermatomyositis
- Keratosis follicularis spinulosa decalvans
- Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease
- Lichen planopilaris
- Lichen planus pemphigoides
- Localized dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, pretibial form
- Maculopapular cutaneous mastocytosis
- Microvillus inclusion disease
- Omenn syndrome
- Pemphigus foliaceus
- Pityriasis rubra pilaris
- Porokeratosis of Mibelli
- Primary biliary cholangitis
- Primary biliary cholangitis/primary sclerosing cholangitis and autoimmune hepatitis overlap syndrome
- Primary erythromelalgia
- Primary familial and congenital erythrocytosis
- Psoriasis-related juvenile idiopathic arthritis
- Secondary erythromelalgia
- Sjögren-Larsson syndrome
- Subcorneal pustular dermatosis
- Systemic mastocytosis with associated hematologic neoplasm
- Vulvovaginal gingival syndrome
- Zika virus disease
The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions, and Orphanet separately records 6 diseases where this sign is specifically absent. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.
Part of the broader category
Also called: Itchy skin · Skin itching
Tracking symptoms like this for someone? Eleplan keeps symptoms, diagnoses, medications and every specialist in one plan.
Start free with EleplanThis page uses the Human Phenotype Ontology (2026-06-23) — Human Phenotype Ontology Consortium, hpo.jax.org. Disease associations from Orphanet (INSERM), CC BY 4.0. Content is educational and is not medical advice.