Clinicomycological Study and Efficacy of Antifungal treatment in patients of Dermatophytosis in Department of Dermatology, GMERS Medical College And General Hospital, Gotri , Vadodara.

Superficialfungal infection due to dermatophytosis is one of the most common skininfections in the India.It is contagious. The dermatophytes are a group offungi that invade the superficial layer of epidermis and degrade thekeratinized tissues of skin, hair and nails in living animals including man,causing ring worm. (1)(2) But in rare cases they invade the deeper layer of thedermis and other organs. A dermatophyte infection results in increased skinproliferation, scaling, and epidermal thickening.

Dermatophytosisis the fungal infection of keratinized tissue. It is caused by three asexualgenera- Trichophyton, Epidermophyton, and Microsporum. Dermatophytes arefilamentous, keratinophilic, pathogenic fungi which are readily identified bymicroscopic examination of clinical specimen and can be cultured easily inlaboratory. Depending on their habitat, they can be categorized as geophilic,zoophilic and anthropophilic.Based upon the affected site, thesehave been classified clinically into tinea capitis (head), tinea facei (face),tinea barbae (beard), tinea corporis (body), tinea mannum (hand), tinea cruris(groin), tinea pedis (foot), and tinea unguium (nail).

Fluconazole,terbinafine, itraconazole are commonly used antifungal agent indermatophytosis. Resistance to these drugs is being seen increasingly when usedin conventional doses and duration.