Superficial fungal infections are often encountered in clinical practice and their prevalence continues to rise worldwide. Over the years, a change in the pattern of dermatophytoses has been noted.

The purpose of a new study published in Mycoses was to determine the epidemiologic profile of dermatophytes from 2007-2013.

In this retrospective study, 4 556 samples were collected from 3 607 patients suspected of superficial fungal infections during the study period. Overall, 54.09% of the patients enrolled were males.

It was found that 15.43% of the positive for fungal culture—83.21% for dermatophytes and 16.79% for non-dermatophytes.

• Trichophyton (T.) rubrum was the most common isolated pathogen among 73.33% of the dermatophyte cases.
• While, in dermatophyte infected patients, men and those of higher age (61 to 80 years) were most likely to be affected.
• The most commonly affected areas were nails (33.16%) and feet (33%).
• T. rubrum was recurrently isolated in several regions, except for the scalp, where M. canis (58.33%) was the most frequently isolated pathogen.
• While 16.04% of the patients had a history of undergoing treatment prior to sampling.
• On the other hand, 77.26% of the affected individuals did not have any prior animal contact. T. benhamiae was exclusively associated with contact to guinea pigs.

From the results, it was inferred that T. rubrum was the most frequently isolated pathogen at several sites in this cohort, except the scalp. Meanwhile, new dermatophyte species emerged with time especially T. benhamiae.

Source: Mycoses. 2020 Mar 18. doi: 10.1111/myc.13077