Resumen

PEREZ, Jorge Enrique; CARDENAS, Carolina  y  HOYOS, Ana María. Clinical, epidemiological and microbiological characteristics of onychomycosis in a reference laboratory in Manizales (Caldas), 2009. Infect. [online]. 2011, vol.15, n.3, pp.168-176. ISSN 0123-9392.

Introduction: Onychomycosis is the leading cause of nail disease and represents 30% of superficial fungal infections. The fungi that cause the condition vary according to geographic location and individual risk factors. Even with the identification of the causative agent, the treatment failure rate is high. Objective: To establish the clinical, epidemiological and microbiological causes of onychomycosis in patients over 16 years old in the city of Manizales. Materials and methods: A prospective descriptive study in 232 patients with clinical diagnosis of onychomycosis sent from different medical centers of Manizales in 2009. A sample collection, direct examination with KOH 20% and dimethyl sulfoxide 36%, culture in Saboreaud agar with antibiotics in all cases were performed. Identification was done for the 146 obtained isolates with specific methods for dermatophytes, yeasts and molds. Results: The most common presentation of the disease was the distal; the disease is more commonly associated with occlusive footwear, for females. The clinical manifestations was the type subungual distal in patients over 70 years old; the most frequently isolated agents were Trichophyton rubrum (26.7%), Fusarium spp (14.4%), T. mentagrophytes (11%), Candida tropicalis (11%), Candida krusei (6%) and Geotrichum candidum (6%). Conclusions: There was a female predominance of onychomycosis in Manizales and a the high frequency of non-dermatophyte fungi; T. rubrum was the most frequently isolated dermatophyte; the frequency of patients with KOH or positive culture is higher than 70% in all age groups. It was found that age is not a risk factor for the disease.

Palabras clave : onychomycoses; yeast; dermatophytes; non-dermatophytes; molds; risk factors; clinical characteristics.

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