Background:Malassezia is a lipid-dependent yeast known to cause Pityriasis versicolor, a chronic, recurrent superficial infection of skin and present as hypopigmented or hyperpigmented lesions on areas of skin. If not diagnosed and treated, it may lead to disfigurement of the areas involved and also result in deep invasive infections.Aim:The aim of the present study was to identify and speciate Malassezia in patients clinically suspected of having Pityriasis versicolor.Materials and Methods:Total 139 patients suspected of having Pityriasis versicolor were evaluated clinically and diagnosis was done by Wood's lamp examination, confirmed mycologically by using KOH, cultivation on Sabouraud's dextrose agar and modified Dixon agar at a tertiary care hospital in Mumbai. The total duration of study was 12 months.Results:Majority of the patients were males (59.71%) in the age group of 21-30 years (33.81%) who were students (30.21%) by profession. The incidence of Malassezia in Pityriasis versicolor was 50.35%. The most common isolate was M. globosa (48.57%), followed by M. furfur (34.28%). Majority of the patients had hypopigmented lesions, with M. globosa as the predominant isolate. Neck was the most common site affected; 88.48% were Wood's lamp positive of which 56.91% of Malassezia isolates grew on culture. KOH mount was positive in 82.01% of which 61.40% Malassezia isolates grew on culture.Conclusions:The procedure of culture and antifungal testing is required to be performed as different species of Malassezia are involved in Pityriasis versicolor and susceptibility is different among different species. Thus, it would help to prevent recurrences and any systemic complications.

Background: Onychomycosis is a fungal nail infection having wide range of prevalence in different geographical regions. It becomes imperative to know prevalent causative agent in local area to improve quality of life of patients. Present study was aimed to study epidemiological, clinical and laboratory aspects of onychomycosisMethods: Study was carried out prospectively at a tertiary care teaching hospital Nail scrapings of 630 clinically suspected cases of onychomycosis over a period of 5 years (January 2012 to December 2016) were subjected to KOH examination and culture.Results: Young adults in age group of 21-40 years (67.61%) were predominantly affected with male to female ratio of 1.8:1. Overall prevalence of onychomycosis of the present study is 58.41%. Yeasts were isolated in 47.86%, dermatophytes in 30.71% and non dermatophytic filamentous fungi in 21.43%Conclusions: Present study demonstrates a shift in causative agents from dermatophytes to yeasts.

A 60-year-old woman with clinical and biochemical features suggestive of adrenal insufficiency was found to have bilateral adrenal masses on CT scan and was subjected to F-FDG PET scan. The scan showed hypermetabolic mediastinal nodes in addition to intense tracer uptake in bilateral adrenal masses. CT-guided adrenal biopsy grew Histoplasma capsulatum on Sabouraud dextrose agar culture. A second F-FDG PET scan after 6 months of appropriate antifungal therapy showed a significant decrease in intensity of uptake consistent with the clinical outcome.

Emergence of resistance in our study warrants need of elaborate studies with clinical correlation data to detect prevalence of resistance to caspofungin. E-test method proved to be an easy and simple technique for testing susceptibility of Candida to caspofungin.

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