Dermatophyte species in superficial mycoses in the Kraków district, Poland in the years 1972–2007

Considerable changes in the dermatophyte spectrum have been observed in the past century. Hence, many authors point out the necessity of performing periodical overviews of the mycological flora producing mycoses in humans in a given area. Analysis of dermatophyte species was performed, which were isolated from the lesions in patients suspected of superficial mycosis and referred to the Department of Mycology. The materials were isolated from patients suspected of superficial mycosis from Kraków region from January 1, 1972 through December 31, 2007. A total of 4983 dermatophyte strains were isolated from 23 124 specimens, which amounts to 21.5%. The percentage of dermatophytes isolated in the past decade decreased to 13.1% in the year 2007. Trichophyton rubrum outnumbered Trichophyton mentagrophytes during the entire survey period: 62.4 vs. 33.5%. The participation of Microsporum canis amounted to 1.71% and that of Epidermophyton floccosum to 1.32%. The species M. canis appeared by the end of the 1980s. The remaining dermatophyte species comprised 1% of the isolates. A considerable decrease in dermatophyte isolations has been observed since 2000. Trichophyton rubrum outnumbered T. mentagrophytes during the entire period of study. The percentages of T. rubrum and T. mentagrophytes are decreasing while the percentages of other dermatophytes are slowly increasing.