Etiology of toe-web disease in Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates: bacteriological and mycological studies

ABSTRACT

We examined and sampled 45 patients with toe-web intertrigo for bacteriological and mycological studies. Prominent isolated pathogens were the genus Candida [57.7%], genus Aspergillus [28.8%], Pseudomonas aeruginosa [26.7%] and coliforms [24.4%]. Dermatophytes scored 4.4% [Trichophyton rubrum]. There were 43 patents [95.5%] who presented with marked hyperkeratosis and maceration of the toe-webs involved. The tradition of the Emirati population of sitting cross-legged may, over time, induce in the toe-webs of overweight individuals a macerated pressure-reaction hyperkeratosis that is colonized by environmental germs. T. rubrum and T. mentagrophytes are uncommon in the Al-Ain environment and this may explain the rarity of dermatophytes in toe-web intertrigo in our study