English

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Onychomycosis is common infection in adults and account for 20% of all nail diseases. The clinical presentation is often confused with other conditions, making laboratory diagnosis and confirmation necessary. Accurate identification of etiological agent is important, as the treatment is different for dermatophytes and non dermatophytes. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 1. To isolate and identify the etiological agents of onychomycosis. 2. To study the occupational status of the study group. 3. Correlation between nail involvement and sex. METHODOLOGY: To identify the aetiological agents of onychomycosis, the present study was carried out in the department of Microbiology, S. S. Institute of medical sciences and research centre. Nail clippings were collected from a total of 120 clinically suspected patients of onychomycosis attending the outpatient department of Dermatology and Venereology and were processed and identified by standard laboratory techniques. RESULTS: Fungi was demonstrated in 66 (55%) either by KOH preparation and/or culture. Sixty (50%) were positive by direct microscopy and 54 (45%) were culture positive. Out of the 54 culture isolates,32 (59.26%)were dermatophytes followed by yeasts 13 (24.07%) and non dermatophytemoulds 9 (16.67%). Among the dermatophytes,T.rubrum18 (33.33%) was the most common followed by T.mentagrophyte 8 (14.81%) and T.tonsurans 4 (7.41%).Among the yeasts, C.albicans11 (20.37%) was predominate followed by C.tropicalis 2 (3.7%).Among the non dermatophytemoulds,Aspergillusflavus3 (5.55%) was the commonest followed by Fusarium spp 2 (3.7%).The finger nails were more commonly involved 66 (55%) than toe nails 54 (45%). Most of the patients were farmers 38 (31.67%) followed by housewives 32(26.67%). CONCLUSION: Dermatophytes remain the predominant cause of onychomycosis, with T.rubrum as the most common aetiological agent, but less commonly yeasts like C.albicans and non dermatophytic moulds like Aspergillus spp can also cause nail infection and hence accurate diagnosis is needed ,since the treatment is different for each group.