Studies on the Dissemination of Dermatophytes from the Feet of Subjects with Tinea Pedis

Abstract

The subjects were 183 patients with tinea pedis who visited the dermatologic clinic of the Ibi General Hospital and 102 healthy volunteers. Each subject wore vinyl chloride-coated slippers on their bare feet for 10 minutes. Subsequently, cellophane adhesive tape (Nichiban) was pressed onto the surface of the slippers which had been contact with the subject's planta. The tapes were subsequently incubated on Actidione-chloramphenicol-supplemented pepton dextrose agar plates. By this method, dermatophytes were isolated from 169 slippers in contact with 118 patients' feet (65.0%). The number of dermatophyte colonies, isolated from individual slippers, was 5 or less in 112 slippers (66.3%), 6-10 in 22 slippers (13.0%), 11-15 in 12 slippers (7.1%), 16-20 in 5 slippers (3.0%), 21-25 in 3 slippers (1.8%), 26-30 in 6 slippers (3.6%) and 31 or more in 9 slippers (5.3%). The species that were isolated from lesions were the same as those isolated from slippers in 89.0% of all patients concerned. Neither the frequency nor the degree of dissemination differed significantly in relation to the species. In 2 of the 102 normal controls, one colony of Trichophyton mentagrophytes was isolated from the slippers worn. When a cellophane adhesive tape was applied to the planta of 20 patients with tinea pedis and was subsequently treated with 20% KOH, fungal filaments similar to dermatophytes were detected in 14 cases (70%). © 1993, The Japanese Society for Medical Mycology. All rights reserved.