Prevalence of mycoses in chronic lower limb wounds of people with onychomycosis and/or tinea pedis

Chronic lower limb wounds are constantly exposed to bacterial and fungal organisms and are inevitably contaminated with several organisms. The aim of the pilot study was to investigate the prevalence of fungi in chronic lower limb wounds in people with onychomycosis and/or tinea pedis. Consecutive, consenting patients with a chronic lower limb wound and a clinical diagnosis of onychomycosis and/or tinea pedis were recruited from two wound management clinics over a five-week period following ethics approval for the relevant institutions. Wound swabs, toenail clippings and/or skin scrapings were collected from each participant and subjected to mycological examination. Wound swabs were analysed for fungal presence by culture, while both microscopy and culture techniques analysed toenail and skin samples. In four participants, wound cultures tested positive for the opportunistic fungal Candida species. All four participants also had onychomycosis confirmed in their toenails by either a microscopy or culture analysis. Statistical analyses did not generate any significant (p>0.05) relationships between fungal presence in wounds and wound aetiology, wound duration or positive toenail and skin samples, however fungi-positive wounds and wound location were found to be statistically significantly related (p<0.05).