EPIDEMIOLOGY OF TINEA-PEDIS IN MARATHON RUNNERS - PREVALENCE OF OCCULT ATHLETES FOOT

Studies on the prevalence of tinea pedis, a frequently encountered der matophytic infection, have been conducted mostly in swimmers although people who regularly practise other types of physical activities may a lso have a high rate of clinical or subclinical infection. This invest igation was undertaken to establish the rate of infection in marathon runners, and to determine the incidence of occult athlete's foot disea se in this population. Among samples obtained from 405 individuals, 22 % were positive. The rate of infection was highest in the older age gr oups. The prevalence of infection was 24.2% in men and 6.1% in women. Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes were the two speci es of dermatophytes most commonly isolated on culture. Occult athlete' s foot disease represented 48% of cases with a positive culture. Final ly, routine sampling of both feet was confirmed necessary to adequatel y establish the rate of infection: 26.9% of cases with a positive cult ure would have been missed by unilateral sampling. Other epidemiologic al factors were not clearly linked to the prevalence of disease in mar athon runners: weight; presence of pet animals; practice of other spor ts; race and country of origin. In conclusion, we established that mar athon runners represent a population at risk for the occurrence of bot h clinical and subclinical tinea pedis infection.