Clinicomycological Profile of Dermatophytosis in Patients Attending a Tertiary-care Hospital in Central India: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

Background: Dermatophytosis is a common superficial fungal infection whose clinical distribution and causative species vary with host, environmental, occupational, and healthcare-seeking factors. Laboratory confirmation is useful because clinically similar dermatoses may be misdiagnosed and because species identification supports epidemiological surveillance and treatment planning. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology, Index Medical College Hospital & Research Centre, Indore, from October 2022 to April 2025. Two hundred and fifty clinically diagnosed patients with dermatophytosis were enrolled. Patients of all ages and both sexes were eligible; those who had used antifungal agents during the preceding four weeks were excluded. Skin, hair, and nail specimens were examined by potassium hydroxide (KOH) mount and cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar. Isolates were identified using colony morphology, microscopy, slide culture, and urease testing. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis. Results: The largest age group was 31–40 years (68/250, 27.2%), and females accounted for 139 cases (55.6%). The most frequent occupation was homemaking (87/250, 34.8%), followed by student status (66/250, 26.4%). Tinea corporis with tinea cruris was the predominant clinical presentation (129/250, 51.6%), followed by tinea corporis alone (73/250, 29.2%). Skin scrapings constituted 239 specimens (95.6%), hair 3 (1.2%), and nail material 8 (3.2%). KOH examination was positive in 114 cases (45.6%), whereas culture yielded dermatophytes in 131 cases (52.4%). Among culture-positive isolates, Trichophyton mentagrophytes predominated (68/131, 51.9%), followed by Trichophyton rubrum (45/131, 34.3%). Less frequent isolates were Trichophyton verrucosum (7/131, 5.3%), Trichophyton tonsurans (6/131, 4.6%), Nannizzia gypsea (3/131, 2.3%), and Microsporum canis (2/131, 1.5%). Conclusion: In this tertiary-care outpatient population, mixed tinea corporis and tinea cruris was the dominant clinical pattern, and T. mentagrophytes was the leading cultured dermatophyte. Culture identified additional positives among KOH-negative specimens and should complement direct microscopy when clinical suspicion is high.