Superficial fungal diseases in humans

Shallow fungus is a common disease because our country is located in the hot and humid tropics, which is favorable for fungi to grow and cause disease. Superficial fungal disease causes a lot of discomfort to the patient, especially if not treated thoroughly, it is easy to recur.

Superficial fungus is a skin disease caused by parasitic fungi on the epidermis or skin appendages such as hair, hair, and nails. The disease causes a lot of itching for the patient, especially at night. In addition, if not properly treated, the fungus can spread to the whole body, the disease is easy to recur, affecting quality of life
Superficial fungal infections can occur at any age. However, the disease is common in young people from 20-29 years old, mainly students and students. The cause is poor living conditions, living in groups, sharing clothes, hot and humid environment, sweating a lot, etc., creating conditions for fungi to grow, spread and cause disease.
Accurate diagnosis of superficial fungal diseases requires scraping the scabs of the affected area and then looking for fungi and mycelium.

2.1. Ringworm
Ringworm is the most common skin fungus caused by filamentous fungi. Mycelium parasitic in dogs, cats, mice, when conditions are favorable, will spread to humans. Skin lesions are red patches of skin that are round or multi-arched, scaly above, well demarcated, with rough margins on the skin surface, lesions usually heal in the middle and spread around, accompanied by patients with itching a lot, especially when it's hot, sweating a lot.

Location: Usually occurs in large interstitial folds, usually in bilateral inguinal folds, between buttocks, waist, armpits, folds of female breasts, trunk, hands and feet, sometimes appearing on the neck of the neck, face.
The disease is common in patients with congenital or acquired immunodeficiency or in patients receiving immunosuppressive drugs, lesions may spread to the whole body.
2.2. Interstitial fungus
The disease usually occurs between the toes, especially between the 3-4 toes. The fungus can then spread to the top of the foot, down the bottom of the foot, sometimes with deep blister-like blisters on the soles of the feet.
The primary lesion is slightly scaly white vesicles, possibly vesicles. Accompanying the patient with a lot of itching, scratching the skin and seeing the red background leads to inflammation, swelling due to secondary bacterial infection, then the patient may have a fever, swollen inguinal lymph nodes.
The disease is common in people who wade in water and wear socks and shoes often
2.3. Yeast is common in young people, adolescents, greatly affecting the aesthetics and can spread around, often appearing in the upper half of the person such as in the neck, shoulders, chest, back , arm, sometimes spreading to the thigh.
Basic lesions are macules 0.5 to 2 cm in diameter, clearly demarcated with healthy skin, above with dry, scaly, flaky skin. The lesions are linked together to form a large patch, the border is crooked as shown in the map. In people with dark skin, the macula is usually white, in white people it is brown.. Lesions are red and itchy when exposed to the sun, when sweating
2.4. Dragon scale fungus
Dragon scale fungus often appears on the back, chest, and arms. Basic lesions: Appears many skin scales, scales clinging to normal skin, skin is not inflamed, no blisters, lesions are concentric circles, stacked like roof tiles, thin skin scales. Dragon scale disease causes a lot of itching, causing insomnia, leading to nervous breakdown.
2.5. Toenail fungus
is a fungal disease that occurs on fingernails and toenails. Usually begins at the free margin of the nail or at the base of the nail, when the fungus on the back of the hand spreads down.
Initial basic lesions often have white spots, nails lose their shine, white or yellowish spots gradually enlarge, white or yellow nails like reed intestines. Nails are gradually eaten by parrots, rough and deformed, sometimes separating from the foundation.

2.6. Hair fungus
Hair fungus often occurs in people who often keep their hair wet, such as washing their hair at night, wearing a hat right after washing their hair, more common in women than in men, transmitted when sharing comb caps. Hair fungus has many forms including:
The form of fungus that breaks the hair shaft: When the fungus is infected, along the hair shaft, there are small black sesame seeds that stick to the hair shaft. The small particles are the mycelium and the burning spores that make it very hard and strong to break the hair shaft. Scalp fungus: On the scalp, there are red, round, oval, scaly, scaly patches on the scalp, the skin scales are usually white or grayish-white, the hair is broken a few mm from the scalp,. Infiltrative form of pus: in the scalp, pustules appear in the hair follicles connected in clusters, clearly defined, on the face full of pus-filled scales, the scales have pits with yellow pus, very foul pus, looking like a beehive, the hair is bare.

Purpose of treatment: Use antifungal drugs exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Depending on the condition and severity, it is indicated to use topical antifungal drugs alone or in combination with systemic oral drugs. Note that it is necessary to completely kill the fungus, avoid recurrence by changing activities, cleaning,... specifically as follows:
Topical drugs with antifungal effects such as Nizoral cream (Ketoconazole) 2%, Lamisil cream (Terbinafine) 1%,...with high treatment efficiency, few side effects. Note that the drug should last for at least 3 to 4 weeks to avoid recurrence. The use of systemic antifungal drugs requires a doctor's prescription. Clean the house, avoid wearing wet clothes, dry clothes in the sun to avoid recurrence. Avoid contact with infectious sources such as dogs and cats, do not share clothes and blankets with infected people. Vinmec International General Hospital with a system of modern facilities, medical equipment and a team of experts and doctors with many years of experience in medical examination and treatment, patients can rest assured to visit. and hospital treatment.

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