Ocorrência de dermatófitos em amostras de unhas, pés e mãos coletadas de estudantes universitários Occurrence of dermatophyte, in nails, feet and hands of universitary students

ABSTRACT The objective of this paper was to evaluate the occurrence of dermatophytes, specifically in the nails, feet and hands ofuniversity students with and without lesions. Two hundred and eighty samples were collected; 31 (11.1%) were positive bydirect examination, while only 20 (7.1%) showed dermatophyte growth in culture, as well as direct positive examination.Trichophyton rubrum was the most frequently isolated (80%) dermatophyte followed by T. mentagrophytes (20%). Consideringthe sites analyzed, dermatophyte occurrence was: 10.4% in toenails, 5% in foot skin, 2.5% in fingernails and 0.4% in handskin. Key-words : Dermatophytes. Trichophyton rubrum. Trichophyton mentagrophytes.onde persiste um clima quente e umido, causando relevanteproblema de saude publica 3 .O genero Trichophyton e composto por diversas especies,dentre as quais destaca-se pela frequencia de isolamento T. rubrum ,que pode produzir praticamente todos os quadros clinicos dedermatofitose, tendo como caracteristicas principais a tendenciapara cronicidade e a resistencia aos tratamentos convencionais