title: Fungal skin infections in a paediatric dermatology clinic.
abstract: A diagnosis of fungal infection was established in 8.6% of patients who attended the dermatology clinic at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital, Colombo over a one year period. Only 4.3% were confirmed in the laboratory. The agreement between clinical and laboratory diagnosis was 96.6% for patients with typical clinical features, but only 26.4% for patients who did not have the classical appearance. Both direct microscopy and culture are required to determine the causative agent, although the majority (92%) of patients could be diagnosed on microscopy alone. Microsporum gypseum was the commonest fungus isolated from children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Perera
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Perera
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003881:Dermatomycoses / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D013188:Sri Lanka / Q000453:epidemiology; D014005:Tinea / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D014006:Tinea Capitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D014008:Tinea Pedis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology