Non dermatophytic molds causing onychomycosis: a rising trend in North India

Onychomycosis refers to the invasion of the nail plate by a fungus. It is mainly caused by dermatophytes, but yeast and non-dermatophyte molds (NDM) have also been associated, leading to variable clinical presentations. 1 A number of factors contribute to the growing incidence of fungal nail infections, e.g. an increased aging population and an increasing number of immunocompromised state of patients. 2 Onychomycosis and other nail diseases can adversely affect the appearance of the entire nail unit, but most often it is regarded as a simple cosmetic problem of relatively minor importance that hardly seek any treatment in most of the cases. However, many patients with fungal nail infections experience serious physical, psychological, social, and occupational ill-effects. Onychomycosis affects approximately 5% of the population worldwide and represents 20-40% of the onychopathies and about 30% of cutaneous mycotic infections. 3 Various workers have reported the incidence to vary from 0.5 to 5% in the general population in India. 4,5 Although onychomycosis is rarely life threatening, its high incidence and prevalence and the associated morbidity makes it an important public health problem, thus it becomes important to look for the etiological agent and its treatment options. Although dermatophytes are still the major cause of superficial ABSTRACT