Tinea Infections of the Epidermis on Darker Skin: Diagnosis and Treatment

00:02 And now that we've covered all epidermal dermatophyte infections, let's take a look at how all of these are diagnosed.

00:09 Physical examination is important and one sees often multiple sites of involvement.

00:16 So full scale examination is mandatory.

00:21 We also do skin scrapings which is mounted in KOH which helps to remove the keratin so that it's easy to visualize the fungus.

00:30 And on direct microscopy and fungal culture this is what we would see the hyphae.

00:40 The general measures for treating the skin should be kept clean and dry most of the time. Loose fitting light clothing is recommended in hot, humid climates. Avoid close contact and shedding of fomites, particularly if you have infection.

00:58 Careful toweling after washing to avoid transfer of fungi to other places of the body is recommended. Refrain from walking barefoot or sharing shoes.

01:11 In fact, there's a study that was done that showed that people who have tinea pedis and walk barefoot on the carpets, one is able to pick up the fungus in the carpet. And this was documented by one of the colleagues in South Africa, where they found a high up culture of dermatophytes in the carpets, especially in the mosques where most people walk barefoot.

01:41 Some of the specific measures specific measures include.

01:45 When you have limited disease, we use topical antifungal drugs as listed over there. For extensive or refractory disease, we use systemic oral antifungals, griseofulvin, itraconazole for azole and terbinafine at the appropriate dosages for children and for adults for the appropriate duration.