Isolation And Diagnosis Of Yeast Types In Foot Patients

Abstract

Fungal foot infection is a significant health issue worldwide, but in Saudi Arabia, there is insufficient epidemiological evidence of yeast species causing fungal infection, making it difficult to base diagnosis and treatment on the evidence. This study aimed to isolate, identify, and characterize the prevalence and distribution of the yeast species among patients with symptomatic foot infections in a Saudi clinical setting. The study was done on 150 patients in a tertiary care hospital in a cross-sectional manner. Selective media were used to culture clinical samples, and molecular confirmation was done on the ambiguous results. Identification of yeast isolates was done by the VITEK 2 system. Data analysis was done by descriptive statistics, chi-square test, ANOVA, and logistic regression. One hundred and twenty patients (74.7, 95% CI: 66.8, 81.3) were used to isolate yeasts. The most common isolate was Candida albicans (42.9% of the isolates), which was then closely followed by Candida parapsilosis, with a high prevalence rate of 27.7%. The clinical presentation and species distribution had a considerable correlation ( χ 2=18.95, p=0.003), with C. parapsilosis being closely associated with tinea pedis. The C. parapsilosis patients were much older (mean age of 58.7 years) as compared to other non-albicans species (mean age of 49.3 years) (p=0.035). There was a significant deviation in the overall species profile of common patterns in the world (Goodness-of-fit test, p=0.002). This study creates a local mycological profile, with C. parapsilosis as the main pathogen. The results demonstrate that it is important to use region-specific diagnostic recommendations and specific antifungal interventions to streamline clinical practice in Saudi Arabia.