IDENTIFICAÇÃO DE FUNGOS PATOGÊNICOS EM AREIA DA PRAIA DO CALHAU, SÃO LUÍS-MA, LITORAL NORDESTE DO BRASIL

Over the last years there has been an increase in the number of people who develop mycoses, especially those who frequent the beaches and use the sand area as part of recreation. This leads to greater concerns about microbial contamination. Therefore, the aim of this work was to identify the presence of pathogenic fungi in sand samples from Calhau beach, Sao Luis-MA. Sand samples were collected from three points of the beach, taking into consideration the parts with the largest flow of people. Mycological analysis was performed by the scattering technique. The main genera found were Chaetonium, Trichophyton, Aspergillus e Candida, the last three being of great clinical interest. The sand samples analyzed shown that Calhau beach in Sao Luis-MA has a variety of pathogenic fungi that can adhere to the visitors’ epidermis, leading to possible mycoses. Therefore, greater monitoring on the beaches is suggested, not only for the water zone, but also for the wet and dry areas, as regards the sanitary aspect.