Clinico-mycological study of onychomycosis in Botswana

Abstract

Background Onychomycosis is a fungal disease of the toenails or fingernails that may include any part of the nail unit including the matrix bed or plate The causative organisms of onychomycosis are dermatophytes Candida yeasts and non dermatophytic molds associated with different clinical presentations Methods A retrospective study was carried out including the patients diagnosed with onychomycosis at the National Health Laboratory Gaborone Botswana from January to December The objective of the study was to find out the predominant species and most common clinical form of onychomycosis in Botswana Results patients were diagnosed with onychomycosis females and males Trichophyton violaceum T violaceum was found to be the predominant species patients with male to female ratio of and the commonest clinical type was endonyx onychomycosis patients followed by distal subungual onychomycosis patients white superficial onychomycosis patients and cases of candida paronychia Fingernail involvement was more common patients compared to toenail involvement patients all males Conclusion Efforts ought to be made for the precise diagnosis and timely treatment of onychomycosis as it does not ordinarily cure by itself and can trigger more infectious lesions in other parts of the body The treatment of onychomycosis is aimed at the eradication of the causative organism both clinical and mycological cure HIV status should be investigated where multiple fingernails or toenails are involved nbsp