title: A study on tinea gladiatorum in young wrestlers and dermatophyte contamination of wrestling mats from Sari, Iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the prevalence of tinea gladiatorum among young wrestlers and dermatophyte contamination of wrestling mats from Sari city, the capital of Mazandaran, a northern province of Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  324 wrestlers (aged 9-20 years) from 7 active clubs in Sari city were examined, and skin scrapings were obtained from 135 wrestlers suspected of having tinea gladiatorum. The scraped skin samples were evaluated with potassium hydroxide. Pleated carpet sterile fragments (5 x 5 cm) were used for to survey of wrestling mat contamination. Sabouraud's dextrose agar with and without chloramphenicole and cyclohexamide was used to culture scrapings and wrestling mat samples. The dermatophytes were identified by routine laboratory techniques.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our study showed that of the 324 wrestlers, 65 (20.1%) had tinea gladiatorum. Most lesions were on the trunk and head. All the wrestling mat samples were positive for dermatophytes. Trichophyton tonsurans was isolated from all the scrapings and wrestling mat samples.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Considering that several colonies of T tonsurans were isolated from all the wrestling mats and from wrestlers with tinea gladiatorum (as the only dermatophyte species) we think that the contamination of wrestling mats with T tonsurans has a crucial role in the injection of wrestlers.
authors.affiliation: Medical mycology and Parasitology Department, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Sari, Iran. hedayaty2001@yahoo.co.uk
authors.forename: Mohammad T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Hedayati
authors.forename: Parvaneh
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Afshar
authors.forename: Tahereh
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shokohi
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aghili
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003883:Arthrodermataceae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002648:Child; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D019876:Sports Equipment; D014005:Tinea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D014249:Trichophyton / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014952:Wrestling