Fungal diseases: prevention of foot mycoses

2025-06-06

A topical dermatological problem that requires a comprehensive solution is athlete's foot, which remains the most common fungal skin disease (in a number of countries, up to 50% of the population suffers from athlete's foot). Most often, athlete's foot is found in adults, but in recent years, cases have been recorded when this disease affects adolescents and even children.

Fungal foot infections used to be so common that few people could avoid getting infected. Fortunately, starting in the 1960s and 1970s, medications became available that actually cured patients, not just provided relief.

Mycoses are a disease caused by fungal skin lesions. The skin of the feet is mainly affected by Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, less often by Epidermophyton floccosum. Most often, infection occurs through shoes, rugs, towels contaminated with fungi, as well as through contact surfaces of baths, showers, gyms, and saunas.

Spores or mycelium of mold fungi, once on the feet, adapt best to areas with microtraumas and abrasions. Favorable factors for the infectious process are hyperhidrosis, diaper rash, tight shoes, and insufficient hygienic care of the feet.

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