Epidemiology of Patients with Superficial Fungal Diseases and Their Family Members in Korea / 대한의진균학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Superficial fungal disease is one of the most common human infectious diseases. A recent clinical survey reported that more than half of patients with superficial fungal diseases might be infected at home. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation of the fungal infection between the patients and their family members. METHODS: Dermatologists of 71 general hospitals were involved and evaluated 7,323 patients and 1,037 their family members who were confirmed microscopically to have superficial fungal diseases. RESULTS: According to the survey results, 46.1% of the patients answered they might have been infected at home and 33.6% of the patients remembered there were other fungus-infected patients among their family members at the same time. The isolated organisms were Trichophyton rubrum (1686 cases, 80.9%), Trichophyton mentagrophytes (269 cases, 12.9%), Candida albicans (112 cases, 5.4%), Microsporum canis (12 cases, 0.6%), Trichophyton tonsurans (3 cases, 0.1%), Epidermophyton floccosum (2 cases, 0.1%). On the basis of the fungus culture, it was proven that 85.4% of the patients and their family members had the same kind of microorganism. CONCLUSION: As a result, we could conclude that there is a high possibility of transmitting the fungal infection from one family member to another.