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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences 2019; 11(03): 116-119
DOI: 10.4103/ijmbs.ijmbs_29_19
Original Article

Trends in skin fungal infection in Tripoli, Libya, during 2007–2015

Ahmed Atia
1   Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Faculty of Medical Technology, University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya
,
Abdulsalam Ashour
1   Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Faculty of Medical Technology, University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya
,
Najla Elyounsi
2   Department of Medical Laboratories, Faculty of Medical Technology, University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya
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Background: Skin infection is common worldwide and continues to rise. This study was undertaken to determine the trends in skin fungal infection in patients attending a tertiary hospital. Methods: A total of 253 patients, suspected of superficial and cutaneous skin infections, referred to the Medical Mycology Laboratory of Berustta-Milad Hospital, Libya, were included from attendees over the past 8 years (January 2007–December 2015). Specimens were attained from clinically atypical skin lesions, hair or nail samples of infected patients through scraping. Dermatophyte isolates were identified by studying macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of their colonies. Results: Of 253 samples, fungi were detected in 179 (70.8%) by potassium hydroxide, of which 70 (39.1%) samples were Aspergillus infection followed by 55 (30.7%) samples which were culture positive of Trichophyton spp., 33 (18.4%) samples were isolates of Candida, and 21 (11.8%) due to other opportunistic fungi. Patients with the age group of 17–28 years were more affected. Conclusion: Skin fungal infections are common there is a need to increase the awareness of risk factors contributing to skin fungal infections. Further larger and more detailed epidemiological studies of fungus-induced dermatophytosis which have public health implication are needed.

Key-words:

Dermatophytic - infection - mycosis - skin

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.




Publication History

Received: 17 May 2019

Accepted: 20 September 2019

Article published online:
07 July 2022

© 2019. The Libyan Authority of Scientific Research and Technologyand the Libyan Biotechnology Research Center. All rights reserved. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License,permitting copying and reproductionso long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, oradapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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