Occurrence of Candida strains in cases of paronychia

A total of 43 patients, 11 males and 32 females, with paronychia of the fingernails were examined for the presence of Candida spp. The yeast species isolated were identified using standard laboratory methods, including germ-tube production, morphology on rice agar with Tween 80, and mainly fermentation and assimilation of saccharides. In the male group, two Candida species were detected: C. albicans as the dominant species in 9 patients and C. parapsilosis in 2 cases. Similarly, C. albicans was the prevalent species also in females (n = 17); other Candida species detected were C. parapsilosis (n = 7), C. tropicalis (5) and C. krusei (3). In addition to the genus Candida, the following anaerobic and aerobic microorganisms were isolated from patients of both groups: Fusobacterium spp., Bacteroides spp., Staphylococcus aureus, alpha-hemolytic streptococci, group A beta-hemolytic streptococci, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Neisseria spp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.