AUTOINOCULATION DERMATOPHYTOSIS FROM TOE CULTURES OF HUMAN VOLUNTEERS

Abstract

In a clinical and laboratory study of a large series of patients suffering with superficial dermatoses considered of mycotic etiology (so-called "ringworm"), fungi in hyphal form could usually be found in extemporaneous alkali preparations from the intertriginous foci (when present) and often in lesions in the immediate vicinity, e. g., areas on the feet in the presence of interdigital lesions of the toes or on the dorsa of the hands when definite active lesions were present on the lateral borders of the fingers. Rarely could hyphae be demonstrated in the more remote areas of the glabrous skin, e. g., areas on the legs when the toes were actively infected, or on the wrists or the forearms when there were definite active lesions present on the fingers. As a number of cases were seen in which yeast cells were found microscopically and culturally in intertriginous foci which one would ordinarily assume