Tinea nigra palmaris: a clinical case in a rural Ethiopian hospital

• Published in: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
• Main Authors: Ramón Perez-Tanoira, Carlos Zarco Olivo, José Fortes Alen, Laura Prieto-Pérez, Alfonso Cabello, Jose Manuel Ramos Rincón, Juan Cuadros, Miguel Górgolas
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) 2018
• Subjects: Tinea nigra; Ethiopia; Hortaea werneckii; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/s1678-9946201860052; https://doaj.org/article/b489e0b572bc4a80b218dbc4aa2d2c3f

ABSTRACT Tinea nigra is an infrequent, superficial fungal infection, mainly caused by Hortaea werneckii, which is still underreported in Ethiopia. An asymptomatic 62-year-old male patient sought a rural hospital of Ethiopia, showing dark plaques on the palms of both hands. A superficial mycosis was suspected and a direct light microscopic mycological examination from skin scrapings revealed short brownish hyphae. To our knowledge, this is the first case of tinea nigra from the Ethiopian highlands. This may be due to the actual rarity of the condition or to underreporting.