Onychomycosis in workers from a community garden in teresina, piauí, Brazil

Onychomycosis is an infection of the nail blade caused by dermatophytes, yeasts and non-dermatophyte fungi. This studyaimed to determine the prevalence of onychomycosis in horticulturists of Piauí, identifying the causative fungal etiological agents. A total of 125 horticulturists clinically suspected of onychomycosis were examined for causative fungal agents. In this sense, three subungual samples were collected from each individual, followed by direct KOH examination and subsequent invitro culture. The fungal species were identified by means of morphological, biochemical and molecular analyses.Sixty six out of the 125 horticulturists (52.8%) had confirmed clinical onychomycosis, of which 73.3% had 50 years or more; 33.6% had same risk factors; 66.7% had diabetes and 94% didn’t use any Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Sixty ninefungal isolates were identified as the etiological agents as follows: 52 non-dermatophyte, 16 yeasts and only 1 dermatophyte. In this study, horticulturists with older age and that didn’t use PPE were the more susceptible to develop this disease. Our results indicate, for the first time, a frequency above 70% of non-dermatophyte fungias agent of onychomycosis.