Background and study aims: Dermatophytes are filamentous fungi characterized by their increased affinity to the keratin of ‎the skin and phanera, and represent the main etiological agent of onychomycosis. The objective ‎of this work is to identify the epidemiological and mycological profile of dermatophyte ‎onychomycoses diagnosed at the laboratory of parasitology and mycology of the Hassan II ‎university hospital of Fez‎‎.‎
Patients and Methods: ‎‎‎ This is a retrospective descriptive study conducted in the laboratory of parasitology mycology of ‎the Hassan II University Hospital of Fez including patients referred for mycological nail ‎sampling during a period of 6 years from November 2015 to October 2021.The identification of ‎the different species of dermatophytes responsible for onychomycosis was based on the ‎observation of macroscopic and microscopic aspects of the colonies‎.‎
Results: Of these 1673 patients, 460 cases of dermatophyte onychomycosis were confirmed with a ‎prevalence of 27.5%. The age ranged from 9 to 87 years with an average age of 47.94 years. ‎The disease was more common in women than in men, with a sex ratio of 0.63. Localization on ‎the feet was predominant with a percentage of 93.7%. Trichophyton rubrum was the ‎commonest dermatophyte isolated (95.7%), followed by Trichophyton mentagrophytes var ‎interdigitalis (3.3%), Trichophyton verrucosum (0.7%), Trichophyton soudanense (0.2%), and ‎Epidermophyton floccosum (0.2%)‎‎.
Conclusion: Trichophyton rubrum is the genus most involved in dermatophyte onychomycosis in ‎accordance with the data in the literature. This work emphasizes the contribution of mycological ‎examination in the confirmation of the fungal origin of nail diseases, thus orienting the ‎treatment‎‎‎.