A clinico-cycological study on tinea pedis at Ranchi

Abstract

Clinical diagnosis of tinea pedis was made in 51(0.45%) of 11,386 consecutive patients, attending the skin OPD of Rajendra Medical College and Hospital, Ranchi. Direct microscopy revealed fungus in 66.6% of cases, while, 37(72.5%) were positive by culture, which included 8(15.5%) KOH negative cases also. This disparity as well as the factors responsible for low prevalence of tinea pedis have been discussed.
Trichophyton rubrum was recovered predominantly from the dry, scaly lesions, and also constituted the bulk (48.6%) of isolates as a whole. Trichophyton mentagrophytes lay next to it, and was isolated mostly from the vesicular or macerated lesions. Candida sp. and Epidermophyton floccosum happened to be the other causatives identified.