A twenty‐year survey of dermatophytoses in Braga, Portugal

Abstract

Background Modifications in social habits together with the increase of emigration have contributed not only to increased dermatophytoses but also to an altered etiology. During the last few years, Braga has suffered a radical change from a rural to a cosmopolitan life-style.Methods A statistical study of dermatophytoses and the etiology of their causative agents was performed by a retrospective survey carried out among patients of Hospital de São Marcos, Braga, Portugal, from 1983-2002. In this study, a total of 10 003 patients were analyzed.Results Over this period the frequency of dermatophytoses, as defined by the recovery of a dermatophyte in culture, was found to be 23.6%, whereas nondermatophytic infections accounted for 7.0%. Analysis of the clinical forms and the isolated fungi supports that the dermatophyte species have a predilection for certain body areas ( P ≤ 0.01). Age is a very important factor regarding the occurrence of dermatophytoses ( P ≤ 0.0001), with a correlation between increasing age and infection, positive for Trichophyton rubrum and negative for Microsporum canis . Overall the gender of the patients is not an association factor for the development of dermatophytoses; however, significant differences were detected in the distribution of some etiologic agents ( P ≤ 0.05). ConclusionsThe results showed the main etiologic agent of dermatophytoses to be Trichophyton rubrum (37.4%). Moreover, dermatophytoses are both decreasing and showing a new profile in Braga, and a pronounced decrease of Trichophyton megninii was observed throughout the study.

Clinicomycological study of 150 cases of dermatophytosis in a tertiary care hospital in South India

“…In spite of therapeutic advances in the last decades, the prevalence of cutaneous mycoses is still increasing. [1] The skin constitutes the main site of recognizable fungal infections in humans. [2]…”

Occupational exposure to fungi in gymnasiums with swimming pools

“…In the same study, T. rubrum continues to be the most frequent isolated among all other fungal species isolated in the UK and is the causal agent of foot infection [15]. T. rubrum was also the most isolated in Portugal, in a study developed in Braga [16], involving 10 003 patients, and where T. rubrum was identified in 882 cases (37.4%). Therefore, identification of these 2 species in 5 out of 10 establishments was no surprise.…”

S1 guidelines: Tinea capitis

“…The animals may harbor the pathogen in their fur without showing clinical signs (asymptomatic carriers) [5]. Studies conducted in various European countries [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] have suggested a pathogen shift, showing a steady increase in the percentage of TC cases being caused by anthropophilic species (M. audouinii, T. tonsurans, T. violaceum, T. soudanense). In addition to the other two zoophilic dermatophytes -Trichophyton (T.) mentagrophytes and T. verrucosum -that play an important role in TC, T. benhamiae too has become an increasingly relevant pathogen in central parts of Germany and elsewhere [6].…”