Current trends of antifungal susceptibility pattern of dermatomycosis in a tertiary care hospital by Etest and VITEK-2 methodologies

Dermatomycosis affect the superficial layers of the skin, nails and hair and are often caused by dermatophytic molds, candida & non dermatophytic molds. However, over the last decade, an increasing number of non– dermatophyte filamentous fungi & non albicans Candida have been recognized as agents of skin and nail infections in humans, producing lesions clinically similar to those caused by dermatophytes. Although tissue invasion by them is a rare possibility, they are important as a public health problem particularly in the immunocompromised. There are limited studies on the efficacy of antifungal agents against dermatophytes. This study was conducted to test the efficacy of 3 systemic antifungal agents viz. Voriconazole, Itraconazole & Fluconazole using the E-test method and 2 systemic antifungals viz. Itraconazole and Voriconazole by VITEK-2. Three different species of dermatophytes which were isolated from the clinically suspected cases were Trichophyton mentagrophytes, T.rubrum and M.gypseum. According to the obtained results, Itraconazole and Voriconazole showed the lowest MIC range while Fluconazole had the highest MIC range for most fungi tested. Determining the resistance pattern is especially necessary to assist clinicians in treating superficial fungal infections more effectively. This will minimize side effects and prevent development of antifungal resistance & treatment failures.