Analysis of the results of mycological examination of skin samples from 1997 to 1998

: Mycological findings of 2,447 skin specimens were analyzed. The aim of the study was to estimate the methodology for mycological examination, frequency of particular fungal species isolation and localization on the skin. Fungi were found in 591 specimens: 53.64% microscopically and isolated in cultures, 31.47% only microscopically and 14.89% only isolated in cultures. Total number of isolated strains was 405 (356 strains grew on Sabouraud agar with antibiotics and 272 on mycobiotic agar). The most frequently isolated species were: Trichophyton mentagrophytes (27.9%), Trichophyton rubrum (20%) and Candida albicans (9.14%). The most frequent localizations on skin where fungi had been found were foot (41.47%), toe-nail (22.06%) and finger-nail (10.88%). Sabouraud agar is more reliable for isolation of dermatophytes and mycobiotic agar for Candida species. Usage of both media for primoisolation provides better and faster identification of fungi causing dermatomycoses. Comparing our with other studies, the patterns of fungal appearance in our population had changed and the number of nail specimens, where fungi were found had increased.