Resumo

Dermatomycosis are fungal infections affecting the skin, hair, nail and periungueal folds of people and animals. Trichophyton rubrum is the most frequent agent of dermatomycosis all over the world and its prevalence is highly variable, depending on factors such as age, gender, predisposition to diseases, anatomical site of lesion, socio-economic status, occupation, and others. Cutaneous mycotic infections are common skin disorders in Brazil and are considered an important public health problem. Considering the importance of this disease and the few recent data of its prevalence in Minas Gerais State, this study aimed to provide relevant data on dermatomycosis occurrence in the population of Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. A total of 233 clinical specimens were collected from 189 patients with suspected dermatomycosis. Samples of skin, hair and nails were taken from patients between December 2009 and May 2010.Direct microscopic observation of the samples was carried out by examining the material in 20% potassium hydroxide (KOH) and the fungus were cultivated on Sabouraud dextrose agar and Mycosel medium, incubated at 28ºC and examined for growth after 7 and 14 days. Positive cultures were sub-cultured on plates containing SDA for 14 days and the isolates were characterized by their macro and microscopic characteristics. The Candida species were identified by culturing on Chromagar Candida®, analysis of microscopic characteristics and by the Multiplex PCR technique. Yeast and fungal isolates were positive in 82 cases (35.19%), with the exception of two patients with pityriasis versicolor (2.4%), in which the diagnosis was made only by direct examination plus clinical diagnostics of individuals. There was a higher occurrence on female patients (77.2%) than male (22.8%) and most of the infected patients were aged between 41 and 70 years old (68.29%). The largest number of examined material occurred in samples from toenails (50%). Among the dermatophytes, Trichophyton genus represented over 80% of the isolates, with T. rubrum representing 64.29%, T. interdigitale, 21.43% and M. gypseum, 14.29%. Candida species were predominant in various anatomical sites; C. parapsilosis was the most isolated of all the fungi causing dermatomycosis (40.24%), followed by C. tropicalis (20.73%) and T. rubrum (10.98%), which highlights C. parapsilosis importance as an emerging species.