A Study of Dermatophytic Onychomycosis in Patients Attending Dermatology Department in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Eastern India

The etiology of onychomycosis is only occasionally documented in the eastern part of India. 106 clinically suspected onychomycosis patients were evaluated in this study. Male : female ratio was 1.35:1 and the commonest age group of affliction was 31-40 years. KOH examination revealed 88 (83%) cases, and culture was positive in 86 (81.1%) cases. 66 (62.2%) of them were due to dermatophytes, 8 (7.5%) due to Candida spp. 8 (7.5%) due to Aspergillus spp. and 4 (3.7%) due to Fusarium spp. Among the dermatophytes, Trichophyton was the predominant etiology (90.9%). T. mentagrophytes 14, (21.2%) was the commonest dermatophyte isolated; all the isolates were either anthropophilic or zoophilic. Sensitivity and specificity of KOH mount for diagnosis of dermatophytes in nail samples were 93.9% and 35% respectively. T. verrucosum was associated history of cattle handling and T. mentagrophytes with dog handling. Community based studies are required to reveal the actual burden of dermatophytic onychomycosis patients. Public awareness of the disease is of utmost importance to control and prevent this type of infection.