The objective of a recent study published in JAAD International was to present the global, regional and national burden of fungal skin diseases.

This cross-sectional analysis of fungal skin disease trends in 2017—including 195 countries—was conducted using the Global Burden of Disease Study database, including prevalence rates, age and sex patterns, and fungal burden—using disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).

The results showed that the age-specific fungal skin disease DALYs in 2017 had a right-skewed distribution, with a peak between 1 and 5 years of age. The region with the greatest burden of fungal skin disease was sub-Saharan Africa – DALY rate 89.3 per 100,000 males, 78.42 for females, and the individual country with the greatest DALY rate was Mali – 122. The Global Burden of Disease super-region with the lowest fungal skin disease burden, had high incomes, which includes – southern Latin America, Western Europe, high-income North America, Australasia and high-income southern Pacific.

From the findings, it was inferred that skin mycoses confer a substantial burden on patients worldwide. This burden is the greatest in resource-poor countries, tropical regions and among children between 1-5 years of age. DALYs may serve as a purposeful measure for directing health policy resources to improve the global impact of fungal skin disease.

Source: JAAD International. 2020 Nov 30;2:22-27. doi: 10.1016/j.jdin.2020.10.003.