Prevalence of Dermatophyte Infections in a Tertiary Care Medical College in Eastern India

Background: Superficial mycoses are the fungal infections of skin, nail, and hair. Superficial mycosis is most prevalent in tropical and subtropical countries. The clinical lesions caused by the fungi are highly variable and closely resemble other skin diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to make a definite laboratory diagnosis of superficial skin infections. Dermatophytes are hyaline septate moulds which include the genera Epidermophyton, Microsporum, and Trichophyton that cause superficial mycoses. Materials and methods: The study was conducted for a period of one year (January to December 2019) in a tertiary care hospital in Eastern India. The skin, hair and nail samples were collected from patients with suspected dermatophyte infections. The samples were examined by KOH preparation and cultured on Saboraud’s dextrose agar (SDA) and cornmeal agar. The species identification was done by LPCB preparation and other tests. Results: A total of 68 samples were obtained of which 56 were skin scraping, 10 nail clipping and 2 hair samples. 60 (88.23%) were positive by KOH preparation where as 42 (61.76%) showed growth on SDA. The most common species was T.rubrum followed by T.mentagrophytes. There was a male preponderance and dermatophytic infections were most common among farmers. Conclusion: The most common dermatophyte infection was tinea corporis and T.rubrum was the commonest isolated organism. In the modern era of molecular diagnosis of infectious agents culture and microscopy still play an important role in the diagnosis of superficial mycoses.