Journal of Infectious Diseases and Diagnosis

Dermatophytosis-Skin Infection Caused by Fungus

Osamah A Barasheed^* National Centre for Immunization Research and Surveillance, Sydney, Australia
^*Correspondence: Osamah A Barasheed, National Centre for Immunization Research and Surveillance, Sydney, Australia, Email:

Received: 04-May-2021 Published: 25-May-2021, DOI: 10.35248/2576-389X.21.s3.e001

Editorial Note

Dermatophytosis, sometimes called ringworm, is a fungal skin infection. A red, itchy, scaly, circular rash is the most common symptom. Hair loss is possible in the affected region. Four to fourteen days after exposure, symptoms appear. At any given moment, several areas may be affected. Ringworm can be caused by more than 40 different forms of fungi. Trichophyton, Microsporum and Epidermophyton are the most common forms.

Using public baths, contact sports like boxing, excessive sweating, contact with animals, obesity, and low immune function are all risk factors. Ringworm may be passed from animal to animal or from person to person. The appearance and signs are often used to make a diagnosis. Culturing or examining a skin scraping under a microscope may also be used to validate it.

Keeping the skin dry, not walking barefoot in public, and not sharing personal things are all ways to avoid contracting the disease. Antifungal creams such as clotrimazole or miconazole are commonly used in treatment. If the scalp is affected, oral antifungals such as fluconazole may be required.

At any given time, up to 20% of the world's population could be infected with ringworm. Males are more likely to get groyne infections, while females and males are similarly susceptible to scalp and body infections. Kids are more likely to get scalp infections, while the elderly are more likely to get groyne infections. Ringworm has been described since ancient times.

Infections on the body can cause the ringworm's characteristic enlarging raised red rings. Athlete's foot is caused by an infection on the skin of the feet, and jock itch is caused by an infection in the groyne. Onychomycosis is a fungal infection of the nails that causes them to thicken, discolour, crumble, and fall off. Many adults are infected, with up to 20% of the population suffering from one of these diseases.

Fungi thrive in damp, warm environments like locker rooms, tanning beds, swimming pools, and skin folds; as a result, those that cause dermatophytosis can be transmitted by sharing towels, clothes, boots, or hairbrushes that have not been disinfected after use. Ringworm can affect animals such as dogs and cats, and the disease can be spread between animals and humans, making it a zoonotic disease.

Dermatophytosis is caused by a variety of different fungi organisms. Trichophyton and Microsporum dermatophytes are the most important causative agents. These fungi infect different parts of the body, causing the symptoms mentioned below. The Latin names refer to the diseases (patterns of disease), not the agents that cause them.

Topical antifungal therapies include miconazole, terbinafine, clotrimazole, ketoconazole, or tolnaftate, which are added twice daily before symptoms disappear, which normally takes one to two weeks. Following the resolution of apparent signs, topical therapies should be continued for another 7 days to avoid recurrence. As a result, care lasts two to three weeks on average. To prevent spreading the infection, lesions should not be touched, and good hygiene maintained with washing of hands and the body. Misdiagnosis and treatment of ringworm with a topical steroid, a standard treatment of the superficially similar pityriasis rosea, can result in Tinea incognito, a condition where ringworm fungus grows without typical features, such as a distinctive raised border.