Epidemiological Status of Dermatophytosis in Guilan, North of Iran

Background and Purpose: The epidemiological features of dermatophytoses have been characterized in many geographical locations of Iran, but not in Guilan, North of Iran. This study was carried out to determine the distribution pattern of dermatophytoses and their relevant agents in Guilan, North of Iran, over a period of one year, from April ۲۰۱۰ to April ۲۰۱۱. Materials and Methods: The clinical samples of skin, hair, and nail from ۸۸۹ outpatients (۳۱۷ men vs. ۵۷۲ women) were used for direct microscopy and culture. All the culture-positive samples were then subjected to amplification of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of the nuclear rDNA followed by a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assay to verify the causative agents. Results: The infection was confirmed in ۹۰ (۴۴.۳%) males and ۱۱۳ (۵۵.۷%) females.The most common type of dermatophytoses was tinea cruris (۴۲.۹%), followed by tinea pedis (۲۰.۲%), tinea corporis (۱۱.۳%), tinea unguium (۷.۴%), tinea faciei (۶.۹%), tinea manuum (۶.۴%), and tinea capitis (۴.۹%). ITS-RFLP based of the identification of isolates, showed that the infections were significantly associated with anthropophilic species, of Trichophyton rubrum (۴۱.۹%), Epidermophyton floccosum (۱۹.۷%), T.tonsurans (۵.۴%), and T. violaceum (۲%). Other causative agents were T. interdigitale (۲۲.۶%),Microsporum canis (۴.۹%), T. verrucosum (۲.۵%), and M. gypseum. (۱%). Conclusion: The higher prevalence of T. rubrum, as the agent of dermatophytoses, than other species has never been reported from Iran and is of public health concern because of the chronic nature of infections with anthropophilic species. To thoroughly investigate the epidemiological trend of dermatophytoses in Iran, further periodical and molecularbased studies are necessary.

کلیدواژه ها:

Dermatophyte ، Epidemiology ، Guilan ، Tinea