Introduction:

onychomycosis is an infection of nails caused by dermatophyte fungi, not dermatophytes or yeasts. It constitutes a frequent disease in medical practice, with considerable emotional, social, labor and economic impact.

Objective:

to describe the epidemiological characteristics of onychomycosis in patients who attended in a dermatological service.

Materials and Methods:

a retrospective cross-sectional observational study, where epidemiological records of patients who attended the Dermatology service of the Itauguá National Hospital and the Dermatological Specialties Center in the period from july 2016 to august 2019 were analyzed.

Results:

464 patients with onychomycosis were analyzed. The culture was positive in 83 % (385/464) of the cases. It was mainly observed in women 72 % (276/385), age group was between 31 and 65 years 70.1 % (270/385), of urban areas 76 % (292/385) their activities were house as and household chores activity 41 % (157 / 385). 23 % (87/385) presented one or more comorbidities associated with onychomycosis, with diabetes in 70 % (61/385) of these. The location was in toenails in 58.2 % (259/400), fingernail in 31.2 % (141/400) and in 10.1 % (45/400) of the cases onychomycosis were observed in Both locations. The most frequently isolated genera were Trichophyton and Candida, and the species were T. rubrum and Candida parapsilosis. In the onychomycosis of the toenails, dermatophytes were isolated in 63.7 % (165/259), while in the fingernails, Candida spp. in 77.3 % (107/141).

Conclusion:

onychomycosis produces an affectation that is mostly adult patients, usually women who are engaged in household activities, from urban areas, the main involvement were toenails, being the most frequent agent isolated were, T. rubrum and C. parapsilosis.

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