Distribution and prevalence of dermatophytosis in tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Dermatophytes are a group of closely related fungi that belong to three genera: Microsporum, Trichophyton and Epidermophyton, of more than 40 different species, only a few are common causes of human infection. The natural reservoir of dermatophytes can be humans (anthropophilic), animals (zoophilic), or soil (geophilic). Common species causing human infection include E. floccosum, T. rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, T. tonsurans (anthropophilic) and M. canis (zoophilic). Infection by dermatophytes usually involves cutaneous nonliving tissue due to the inability of dermatophytes to penetrate the deeper tissues or organs of immunosupressed hosts. This distribution pattern of dermatophytes infection in different part of the world has been attributed to factors of climate, life-style, and prevalence of immunodeficiency diseases in the community and also the reluctance of patients to seek treatment because of embarrassment or minor nature of disease unless the condition becomes sufficiently serious to affect the quality of life. Material and Methods: Patient's data including age, sex, clinical diagnosis, site of infection and referring clinic were processed, identified and analyzed. All specimens were examined by 10% KOH mount and Lectophenol Cotton Blue for screening of fungal element and inoculated on Sabouraud's Dextrose Agar (SDA) with 0.5% mg/ml Chloramphenicol (with or without 0.5 mg/ml Cycloheximide). Fungus isolates were identified according standard procedures. Result: In our present study we included 100 patients suffering from dermatological disorder of any ages from 2015 to 2016 in tertiary care hospital of Udaipur. Out of 100 patients 45 were males and 55 were females. Among them, 40 patients found to be suffering from dermatophytosis, in which 22 (55%) were male and female were 18 (45%). Organism were isolated from hair, skin and nail samples of patients were Trychophyton spp 16 (40%) were most prevalent followed by Microsporum spp 15 (37.5%), candida spp 6 (15%), Epidermophyton spp 2 (5%) and Aspergillus spp 1 (2.5%). Conclusion:The actual prevalence of fungal diseases and their most common causative agents among children and adults in Udaipur are unknown. The causative agents include the dermatophytes, Candida spp. and Aspergillus spp. So, we need a proper policy in tertiary care hospitals to provide effective treatment as well as prevent the misuse of Antifungal drugs. However further studies with large sample size is highly recommended to further support the findings from this study.