Identification of the etiological agents that cause superficial cutaneous mycoses in southern Brazil

Abstract

Superficial skin ringworm is a fungal disease that affects external tissues such as nails, skin and hair of humans and animals. The infection can be transmitted directly, through contact with another infected individual or animal, or indirectly, through contaminated materials, these mycoses being potentially contagious. The main objective of the present study was to identify the etiologic agents of potentially contagious cutaneous superficial mycoses present in southern Brazil, correlating with the gender and the most affected sites of the patients.The study period corresponded from January 2011 to June 2019. Prior to the collection, an interview was conducted with patients to obtain epidemiological information. The collected material was scraped from lesions on the skin and nails and hair epilated. The patients were received at the Clinical Analysis Laboratory (LACT) of the UFRGS School of Pharmacy and at the Rio Grande do Sul State Laboratory (LACEN-RS). Subsequently, with the report of the mycological examination, patients treated at LACT were referred to the Dermatology Service of the State of Rio Grande do Sul for medical care and therapy. During the study period, 6010 nail and skin scrapes were obtained and hair, of which 4560 (76%) were negative and 1450 (24%) positive on mycological examination. The most isolated species were T. rubrum (54%), Candida spp. (19%), T. mentagrophytes (14%) and Malassezia spp. (5%). The Female (70%) were the most affected, and nails (72%) were the most affected followed by skin (27%) and hair (1%). With the data obtained on isolated fungal species, we still have much to work with the community developing educational and preventive measures in conjunction with public policies, to try to reduce the risk of contamination by reaching mainly individuals in a higher state of social vulnerability.