Onychomycosis: A clinicomycological study from western Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Abstract Background Onychomycosis is a common nail infection caused by dermatophytes, yeast or other nondermatophyte molds and has diverse clinical presentations. Objectives This study was carried out to document the clinico-mycologic pattern of onychomycosis in western Uttar Pradesh (India). Methods All consecutive patients of onychomycosis diagnosed clinically in a duration of one year were studied for clinical forms. The clippings from the most severely affected nails were subjected to potassium hydroxide (KOH) mounts for direct microscopy and fungal culture on Sabouraud's dextrose agar. Results These 297 patients (M:F 214:83) were between 7 and 79 years of age. The prevalence of onychomycosis was higher among farmers and office workers. Distal and lateral subungual onychomycosis seen in 73.40% of the specimens was the most common clinical type. KOH- and culture-positivity were recorded in 76.76% and 37.37% cases respectively. Dermatophytes and yeast ( Candida albicans ) were isolated in 74.74% and 15.15% of the cultured nail specimens while nondermatophytic molds (NDM) were cultured in 10.10% of the samples. Trichophyton rubrum , Trichophyton mentagrophytes and C. albicans constituted the bulk of pathogens isolated. Conclusion Onychomycosis is common in this part of the country and besides T. rubrum , T . mentagrophytes is also an emerging cause of onychomycosis in the present study.