Prevalence of Dermatophytosis in South Indian Populations: A Research Hospital Based Study

Aim: Dermatophytosis is a superficial fungal infection distributed worldwide, more prevalent in the tropical countries like India. Dermatophytosis is diagnosed based on the history, physical examination, and laboratory diagnosis by Microscopic examination of Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) Mount followed by fungal culture. KOH mount is a rapid, simple, time saving and cost effective diagnostic method. The present study was conducted to know the prevalence and common clinical presentations of Dermatophytosis in Hyderabad, South India.

Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in Clinical Microbiology section of the Laboratory of the Skin Research Institute in Hyderabad, South India, for a period of 1 year from August 2020 to September 2021. A total of 236 skin scarping samples from clinically suspected cases of dermatophytosis were collected. A detailed clinical history of the patients was recorded and skin scrapping samples was subjected to KOH test.

Results: Of all the 236 patients, 186 patients (78.81%) were positive of fungal elements. Males (58.06 %) were more commonly affected than females (41.94%). Tinea corporis was the most common clinical type (50%) followed by Tinea Cruris (22.58%). The microscopic finding revealed 49.46% of samples showing long, septate hyphae, 39.78% of samples showing Spaghetti and meatball appearance and 10.75% of samples showing pseudohyphae with budding yeast cells forms.

Conclusions: The prevalence of Dermatophytosis is high in the study population. In experienced hands, a potassium hydroxide mount is one of the most useful procedures in medical mycology and can be used as screening test and routine investigation in the diagnosis of dermatophytosis so that definite treatment can be commenced without delay.