10% Potassium Hydroxide Mount of Skin Scraping- A Simple Tool for Diagnosing Dermatophytosis in Patients Attending a Dermatology Clinic in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Salem
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65129/health.v1i2.83Keywords:
LPCB- Lacto Phenol Cotton Blue, SDA- Sabouraud Dextrose Agar, Tinea corporis Tinea cruris Slide Culture, T. mentagrophytes, T. rubrumAbstract
Background: Dermatophytosis is also known as tinea infection, refers to a type of superficial fungal infection caused by fungi that invade keratin, which is found in skin, hair, and nails. Dermatophytosis is a major public health concern in India with an alarmingly rising trend in recent years. Aim and Objectives: In this study, the incidence of dermatophytosis in patients attending the dermatology clinic was measured. Methods and Materials: Skin scrapings were collected from patients suspected with tinea infection and examined under a microscope with a 10% KOH mount for early detection of fungal elements. The positive samples, which showed fungal elements, were cultured on SDA for species identification. Results: In this study, 170 patient samples were collected, among them, 68% were male and 32% were female, among all of them, diabetics were 26%. The most frequently identified fungus was Trichophyton mentagrophytes, found in 47% of cases and Trichophyton rubrum 33%. Clinically Tinea corporis was common presentation in this study. Conclusion: The detection of fungal elements using a 10% KOH wet mount is considered a crucial and effective method for the early diagnosis of Dermatophytosis. This KOH mount test often shows more positive results and helps to diagnose fungal infections earlier, compared to culture methods like SDA inoculation. Given the high rates of superficial fungal infections among people in rural areas who seek treatment at advanced healthcare facilities, it is essential to implement preventive measures and early screening practices
Downloads
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Health and Technology
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
1. Larone DH. Dermatophytes. In: medically important fungi A guide to identification; Washington DC: ASM Press; 2023. p. 285-316. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781683674436
2. Gadadavar S, Shilpa HS, Patil CS, Vinay PS, Shettar N. Clinico mycological study of dermatophytoses at a tertiary care hospital in Belagavi. Int J Curr Microbiol App Sci. 2018; 7(5):1872-80. https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2018.705.220
3. Basak P, Mallick B, Pattanaik S. Prevalence of dermatophytic infections including antifungal susceptibility pattern of dermatophytes in a tertiary care hospital. Int J Res Med Sci. 2019; 7(3):699-705. https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20190461
4. Kucheria M, Gupta SK, Chinna DK, Gupta V, Hans D, Singh K, et al., Clinicomycological profile of dermatophytic infections at a tertiary care hospital in north India. Int J Com Health and Med Res. 2016; 2(2):17-22. https://doi.org/10.21276/ijchmr.2016.2.2.03
5. Sarma S, Borthakur AK. A clinico-epidemiological study of dermatophytoses in Northeast India. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol. 2007; 73(6):427-8. https://doi.org/10.4103/0378-6323.37068 PMid:18032869.
6. Dhyaneswari GP, Muley VA, Bhore AV. Clinicomycological profile of dermatophytosis in a tertiary care hospital in Western India. SAS J Med. 2015; 1(4):160-5.
7. Bhatia VK, Sharma PC. Epidemiological studies on dermatophytosis in human patients in Himachal Pradesh, India. Springerplus. 2014; 3(1):134.
https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-3-134 PMid:25674437 PMCid: PMC4320242.
8. Gopi A, Harindranath D, Kaushik AR. Mycological profile of dermatophytes isolated from clinical samples in KIMS hospital Bangalore. J Evol Med Dent Sci. 2015; 4(2):835-42. https://doi.org/10.14260/jemds/2015/120
9. Ghosh RR, Ray R, Ghosh TK, Ghosh AP. Clinicomycological profile of dermatophytoses in a tertiary care centre hospital in West Bengal an Indian Scenario. Int J Curr Microbiol App Sci. 2014; 3(9):655-6.
10. Jain S, Kabi S, Swain B. Current Trends of Dermatophytosis in Eastern Odisha. J Lab Physicians. 2020; 12(1):10-4. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0040-1713063 PMid:32792788 PMCid:PMC7419165.
11. Walke HR, Gaikwad AA, Palekar SS. Clinicomycological profile of dermatophytosis in patients attending dermatology OPD in tertiary care hospital, India. Int J Curr Microbiol App Sci. 2014; 3(10):432 40.
12. Poluri LV, Indugula JP, Kondapaneni SL. Clinicomycological study of dermatophytosis in South India. J Lab Physicians. 2015; 7(2):84-9. https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-2727.163135 PMid:26417157 PMCid:PMC4559634.
13. Mishra N, Rastogi MK, Gahalaut P, Yadav S, Srivastava N, Aggarwal A, et al. Clinicomycological study of dermatophytoses in children: Presenting at a tertiary care center. Indian J Paediatr Dermatol. 2018; 19(4):326-30. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijpd.IJPD_98_17
14. Sen SS, Raul ES. Dermatophytosis in Assam. Indian J Med Microbiol. 2006; 24(1):77-8.
15. Ghuse V, Someshwar S, Jerajani H. Patterns of culture positivity and antifungal sensitivity in dermatophytosis. MGM J Med Sci. 2019; 6(3):105-12. https://doi.org/10.4103/ mgmj.mgmj_4_20
16. Gupta AK, Mohan A, Singh SK, Pandey AK. Studying the clinic mycological pattern of the dermatophytic infection attending OPD in tertiary care hospital in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Int J Res Dermatol. 2018; 4(2):118-25 https://doi.org/10.18203/issn.2455-4529. IntJResDermatol20180987
17. Nagaral GV, Goud GK, Sudha P. Prevalence of Tinea corporis and Tinea cruris in Chitradurga rural population. Indian J Clin Exp Dermatol. 2018; 4(3):221-5. https://doi.org/10.18231/2581-4729.2018.0047
18. Agarwal U, Saran J, Agarwal P. Clinico-mycological study of dermatophytes in a tertiary care centre in northwest India. Indian J Derm Venereol Leprol. 2014; 80(2):194 https://doi.org/10.4103/0378-6323.129434 PMid:24685877
19. Gupta CM, Tripathi K, Tiwari S, Rathore Y, Nema S, Dhanvijay AG, et al. Current trends of clinicomycological profile of dermatophytosis in Central India. J Dent Med Sci. 2014; 13(10):23-6. https://doi.org/10.9790/0853-131032326
20. Mahale RP, Rao MR, Tejashree A, Deepashree R, Kulkarni M. Clinicomycological profile of dermatophytosis in a teaching hospital. Int J Pharmaceut Sci Invent. 2014; 3(8):43-49.
21. Yadav SP, Antifungal patterns of dermatophytes: A pathway to antifungal stewardship in Eastern India, Cureus. 2024; 16(7):e64479. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.64479
22. Singh S, Beena PM. Profile of Dermatophytes infection in Baroda. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol. 2003; 69(4):281-3
23. Verma S, Madhu R. The great Indian epidemic of superficial dermatophytosis: An appraisal. Indian J Dermatol 2017; 62:227-36. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijd.IJD_206_17 PMid: 28584364 PMCid:PMC5448256.
24. Shivam SG, Agrahari S, Maddali GK. The clinical type and etiological agents of superficial dermatophytosis: A cross-sectional study. IP Indian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Dermatology. 2021; 7(4):331-6. https://doi.org/10.18231/j.ijced.2021.062
25. Shalaby MF, El-Din AN, El-Hamd MA. Isolation, identification, and in vitro antifungal susceptibility testing of dermatophytes from clinical samples at Sohag University Hospital in Egypt. Electron Physician. 2016; 8(6):2557-67. https://doi.org/10.19082/2557 PMid:27504173 PMCid:PMC4965208.
26. Vineetha M, Sheeja S, Celine MI, Sadeep MS, Palackal S, Shanimole PE, et al., Profile of dermatophytosis in a tertiary care center. Indian J Dermatol 2018; 63:490-5.
27. Bindu V, Pavithran K. Clinico-mycological study of dermatophytosis in Calicut. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol. 2002; 68(5):259-61.
