Epidemiology of dermatophyte infection in Auckland, New Zealand

✍ Scribed by Darshan Singh; Denesh C Patel; Karen Rogers; Neil Wood; David Riley; Arthur J Morris

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 57 KB
• Volume: 44
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-8380
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1440-0960.2003.00005.x

✦ Synopsis

SUMMARY

This report describes the epidemiology of culture‐proven dermatophyte infection in Auckland, New Zealand. The authors undertook a retrospective review of laboratory data for the period from June 1999 to July 2002. There were 10 004 dermatophyte isolates. The most common isolates were Trichophyton rubrum (69%) and Trichophyton mentagrophytes (19%). Microsporum canis was mainly isolated from children. The prevalence of T. mentagrophytes increased with patient age (P < 0.001). Trichophyton rubrum was most common in those aged between 20 and 59 years. The incidence of culture‐proven dermatophyte infection was 2.9/1000 population for the year 2000, and the incidence increased with patient age (P < 0.001). It is concluded that dermatophytes causing superficial mycoses in the Auckland region are essentially similar to Australia and other Western countries, although some new organisms are seen as a result of the migration of people from other countries. The incidence of local dermatophyte infection increases with age.