BACKGROUND: Superficial fungal infections, particularly of the skin, scalp and nails are very common and have been reported worldwide. The most common causative agents of these mycoses are dermatophytes, yeasts and molds. However, these agents vary with time and depend on many factors including the geography. The objective of this study was to identify the causative agents of superficial mycoses diagnosed at the Le Dantec University Hospital in Dakar (Senegal).
METHODS: The study concerned 1851 outpatients received in the parasitological and mycological laboratory of Le Dantec hospital during the period from January 2011 to December 2015. Every patient benefited from direct examination and mycological culture.
RESULTS: Among the 1851 patients, 633 were confirmed with superficial mycoses and the prevalence was 34.2 %. The age of patients ranged from two months to 81 years with a mean age of 31 years. Superficial mycoses were found more in women (70.3 %) than men (29.7 %) and a little more than thirty-nine percent (39.3 %) were adults. The causative agents identified were: dermatophytes (58 %), yeast (36.7 %) and non-dermatophytic filamentous fungi (NDFF, 5.3 %). The most isolated species were: Candida albicans (26.9 %), Trichophyton soudanense (24.9 %) and T. rubrum (13.7 %). These fungi were responsible for different clinical aspects, isolated and other associated. Among the isolated clinical aspects, those affecting hair (tinea capitis) were by far the largest with 44.8 %, followed by tinea unguium (34.5 %). Associations were especially type of tinea capitis and tinea manuum (2.4 %) and toenails onychomycosis associated with interdigital tinea pedis (2.7 %). Tinea capitis agents were exclusively dermatophytes and the predominant agent was T. soudanense with 47,8 %. Tinea unguium agents were yeast (79 %), dermatophytes (18 %) or NDFF (3 %) and the most found species was C. albicans (63.9 %). Dermatophytes, yeasts and molds were respectively found more in children and young adults, older adults and young adults and older adults and the elderly.
CONCLUSIONS: In definitive, these epidemiological data should enable better diagnostic and therapeutic management of superficial mycoses.

Fungal interdigital tinea pedis (FITP) is the most frequent dermatomycosis in industrial countries. In African tropics, it\'s a rare motive of consultation and is discovered while complicated. The aims of this article were: to determine the frequency of interdigital tinea pedis among overall mycological analysis in our laboratory; to study epidemiological, clinical and mycological aspects of FITP in outpatients attending the Le Dantec mycology laboratory in Dakar. A total of 62 males (60%) and 42 females (40%), mean age: 43.15 years (range: 11-81 years), were received from January 2011 to December 2015 for suspicion of FITP. Skin specimens were taken from all patients for microscopy and fungal culture. The frequency of ITP represents 5.6% (104/1851) among our overall mycological analysis. FITP was confirmed in 68 patients (SPI=65.38%), mainly located between the 4th and 5th toes and 71 fungal species were isolated (CPI=68.27%). Among patients with confirmed FITP, there were 38 males (56%) and 30 females (44%). The prevalence was highest in patients between 44 and 54 years (26%). Candida albicans, Fusarium solani and Trichophyton interdigitale were shown to be the most common pathogens respectively for yeasts (39%), non-dermatophytic filamentous fungi (NDFF; 21%) and dermatophytes (11%). So FITP isn\'t a common reason for consultation in Dakar but its simple parasitic index (SPI) is still very high and dermatophytes formerly the main causative agents are being relegated to third place behind yeasts and NDFF.