Cases of skin and nail candidiasis diagnosed at the parasitology and mycology laboratory of Le Dantec University Hospital in Dakar, 2008-2015

INTRODUCTION: Candida infections are most frequently encountered on the skin and nails. Their proportions vary according to geoclimatic and sociocultural conditions. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of skin and/or nail candidiasis diagnosed in the parasitology and mycology laboratory of Le Dantec University Hospital in Dakar, Senegal. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included 994 patients with suspected skin and/or nail mycosis tested at the parasitology and mycology laboratory during the 8-year study period of 2008-2015. Each patient had both a direct examination and a mycological culture. RESULTS: The patients' median age was 34 with an interquartile range of 25 years. Of these 994 patients, 613 had confirmed skins and/or nail fungal infections. In descending order, the fungi isolated and identified from these mycoses were Candida (n= 387, 63.1%), dermatophytes (28.4%), and mold (8.5%). Thus Candida accounted for nearly two thirds of the skin and/or nail mycoses and had a prevalence rate among the patients with suspected skin or nail candidiasis of 38.9%. These skin/nail sites was more common among women (72%) than men (28%), and slightly more than half of them (50,1%) were adults aged 31 to 60 years. The duration of candidiasis exceeded a full year for 76.3%. Onychomycoses were found more frequently (65.24%) than epidermomycoses, and both sites were infected in 5.17%. Candida albicans was the species isolated most frequently, accounting for 80% of Candida specimens. CONCLUSION: Our results reinforce the importance of mycological confirmation of the diagnosis. The mycology laboratory has a crucial role in making the differential diagnosis with other dermatoses of similar clinical appearance and thus in guiding the choice of treatment.