A study of onychomycosis in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, India

Introduction: Onychomycosis is a chronic infection of nails caused by fungi such as dermatophytes, yeasts or nondermatophyte moulds. It is the most prevalent of all the nail ailments and affects 3- 5% of the population worldwide and represents 20-40% of onychopathies and about 30% of mycotic cutaneo...

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Main Authors: Dusi Ratna Harika (Author), Anaparthy Usharani (Author)
Format: Book
Published: Our Dermatology Online, 2015-09-01T00:00:00Z.
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Summary:Introduction: Onychomycosis is a chronic infection of nails caused by fungi such as dermatophytes, yeasts or nondermatophyte moulds. It is the most prevalent of all the nail ailments and affects 3- 5% of the population worldwide and represents 20-40% of onychopathies and about 30% of mycotic cutaneous infections. Aims: 1)To isolate and identify the etiological fungi and to assess the prevalence of onychomycosis. 2)To analyse the epidemiological and mycological features of onychomychosis. Methods: 109 nail samples were collected from 102 clinically suspected cases of onychomycosis and further analysed. Results: Of 102 cases, the commonest age group was 41-50 years 38 (37.25%); males were 63 (61.76%) and females 39 (38.24%); involvement of toe nails in 73 (71.57%), finger nails 25 (24.51%) and both 4 (3.92%); 56 (54.90%) belonged to low socio-economic status, middle 31 (30.39%) and high 15 (14.71%). Labourers were 14 (13.73%), farmers and office personnel 10 (9.80%). Of 109 samples, direct microscopy by KOH mount was positive in 82 (75.23%) and fungal culture in 52 (47.71%) of which 29 (26.61%) yielded dermatophytes, NDM's 11(21.15%), Candida spp. 8 (15.38%) and mixed growth 4 (7.68%). Dermatophytes 25(48.08%) were the predominant group isolated from toe nails and Candida spp. 6 (11.54%) from the finger nails respectively. Among the 56 isolates, dermatophytes were the predominant group 31 (55.36%) followed by NDM's 15 (26.78%) and Candida spp.10 (17.86%). Conclusion: Onychomycosis is a frequent cause of nail infection. The mycological study and the identification of etiological agents of onychomycosis are needed to confirm the clinical diagnosis and for the choice of therapy
Item Description:10.7241/ourd.20154.105
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