pISSN : 3058-423X eISSN: 3058-4302
Open Access, Peer-reviewed
pISSN : 3058-423X eISSN: 3058-4302
Open Access, Peer-reviewed
Min Jung Lee,Joon Soo Park,Hyun Chung,Jae Bok Jun,Yong Joon Bang
Epub 2016 February 18
Abstract
Background: Soil is well-known as a route to fungal infection in human. Recently, human exposure to potentially pathogenic fungi is threatening the health of people. People are easily and frequently in touch with soil on summer beaches, however, there has been no report suggesting the association between fungal infection in human and soil on summer beaches. Identifying both environments and fungi in places where people are exposed can be of major health concern.
Objective: The purpose of this research is to understand the distribution and frequency of occurrence of keratinophilic fungi (KPF) on summer beaches of the East Sea in Korea.
Methods: To investigate the distribution of soil KPF living in beaches of the East Sea in Korea, soil samples were collected at 132 sites of eleven different areas and KPF were isolated by hair baiting technique.
Results:
1. 43 strains of KPF were recovered from 41 (31.0%) out of 132 samples.
2. Isolated fungi were composed of 36 strains of Chrysosporium species, 6 strains of Microsporum gypseum, and 1 strain of Trichophyton ajelloi.
3. Among three areas under different condition of moisture and shadedness (i.e., sunny wet, sunny dry, and shaded dry area), the frequency of isolation was highest in shaded dry area (56.8%) followed by sunny dry (36.4%) and sunny wet area (4.5%).
Conclusion: The distribution of KPF in beaches of the East Sea in Korea was somewhat different from that in previous studies which had been undertaken in other areas of Korea. Therefore, we think this report can support the association between the fungal infection in human and soil.
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