Journal of

Background and Aim: Bacteria are one of the causes of nail infections. Although nail infections are not always associated with a major health problem, their treatment, particularly in immunosuppressed patients could be chalenging. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of bacterial agents in patients with dystrophic nails referred  to mycology laboratory of Razi Hospital, Tehran.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study on patients with dystrophic nail. Samples were examined by both direct examination and culture. Blood agar and eosin methylene blue (EMB) agar media were used to culture and differentiate bacteria.

Results: Of 700 dystrophic nail samples, 183 (26.1%) samples were diagnosed as onychomycosis. One hundred and four (56.8%) of the patients were female. One hundred and eighty-one patients had bacterial nail infection (25.9%), of whom 109 (60.2%) were female. Forty-six (6.6%) patients had both bacterial and fungul infections, of whom 32 (69.6%) were female. The most common detected agent was Staphylococci.

Conclusion: Bacterial infections can result in dystrophioc nails. If these infections remain untreated they can lead to nail loss. In most cases, treatment of bacterial nail infections is easier than fungul nail infections.