Dermatophytosis diagnosed at the laboratory of parasitology and mycology of Le Dantec Hospital in Dakar between 2007 and 2011

Dermatophytosis is a disease caused by dermatophytes, filamentous fungi adapted to human and animal keratin, colonizing and infecting human skin. The goal of this study was to identify dermatophytes responsible for dermatophytosis among patients, seeking for care in Dakar. Material and methods This study was carried out at the laboratory of parasitology and mycology at Le Dantec Hospital, in Senegal between June 2007 and December 2011, and included 2026 patients. Among these 2026 patients, 796 patients presented a dermatophytosis, confirmed after direct examination and/or culture in 1044 specimens. Patients' age varied between 3months to 89years with 25.5 years of age average; the infestation index was 39.3%. Patients between 20-29years were more infested with 15.3%, followed by 10-19years (9.1%), 0-9years (8.7%), 30-39years (2.7%), 40-49years (1.5%), 50-59years (1.3%), 60-69years (0.4%), 70-79years (0.2%), and 80-89years (0.1%). Women were more infected (77%) than men 23%. The main species isolated were Trichophyton soudanense (52.78%), Trichophyton rubrum (30.94%), Microsporum canis (4.89%), Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. interdigitale (4.50%), Microsporum langeronii (3.54%), Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes (1.82%). This study shows that dermatophytes and dermatophytosis are endemic to Senegal.