Gugnani Harish Chander, Sharma Soni, Gupta Brijinder, Gaddam Srinivas
Windsor University School of Medicine, Cayon, St. Kitts, West Indies.
J Infect Dev Ctries. 2012 Apr 13;6(4):347-51. doi: 10.3855/jidc.1962.
Information on the prevalence of keratinophilic fungi in West Indies is scanty. Occurrence of keratinophilic fungi in soils of St. Kitts and Nevis has not been investigated previously.
The prevalence of keratinophilic fungi was investigated in 108 samples of soils of varying habitats from St. Kitts and 55 such samples from Nevis by hair-baiting technique. Fungal growths appearing on the hair baits after four to eight weeks of incubation at room temperature were microscopically examined and cultured on mycological media. Cultures were identified on the basis of colonial and microscopic features.
Forty-nine (45%) of the samples from St. Kitts and 38 (69%) from Nevis were positive for keratinophilic fungi. Microsporum gypseum complex, a well-known geophilic dermatophyte, was the most frequently recovered species being present in 15.7% of soils of St. Kitts and 40% of soils of Nevis. The next commonest species recovered was Chrysosporium indicum, represented by 15 (13.9%) isolates from St. Kitts and seven (12.7%) isolates from Nevis. Other infrequently isolated keratinophilic species included Chrysosporium tropicum, Chrysosporium keratinophilum, and unidentified Chrysosporium species.
This study is the first of its kind in the islands of St. Kitts and Nevis. A high incidence of M. gypseum complex in the soil of these islands is a noteworthy finding of public health significance.
关于西印度群岛嗜角质真菌患病率的信息匮乏。此前尚未对圣基茨和尼维斯土壤中嗜角质真菌的存在情况进行过调查。
采用毛发诱饵技术，对来自圣基茨的108份不同生境土壤样本和来自尼维斯的55份此类样本中的嗜角质真菌患病率进行了调查。在室温下孵育四至八周后，对毛发诱饵上出现的真菌生长进行显微镜检查，并在真菌培养基上进行培养。根据菌落和显微镜特征对培养物进行鉴定。
来自圣基茨的49份（45%）样本和来自尼维斯的38份（69%）样本中嗜角质真菌呈阳性。石膏样小孢子菌复合体是一种著名的嗜土皮肤癣菌，是最常分离出的菌种，在圣基茨15.7%的土壤和尼维斯40%的土壤中存在。其次最常分离出的菌种是印度金孢子菌，圣基茨有15株（13.9%）分离株，尼维斯有7株（12.7%）分离株。其他较少分离出的嗜角质菌种包括热带金孢子菌、嗜角质金孢子菌和未鉴定的金孢子菌属菌种。
本研究在圣基茨和尼维斯群岛尚属首次。这些岛屿土壤中石膏样小孢子菌复合体的高发生率是一项具有公共卫生意义的值得关注的发现。
