Talk:Dermatophyte

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Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 19:21, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Intro unclear

Dermatophytes... label for a group of three types of fungus ... These anamorphic (asexual or imperfect fungi) genera are: Microsporum, Epidermophyton and Trichophyton. There are about 40 species in these three genera.

Given the above, do the fungi mentioned in the following sentences, shown below, belong to the three groups or are they different from dermatophytes. If this is the case and it appears so, can this be made clearer with a new pargraph. Are the three fungi grouped differentiated purely by how they reproduce?

Species capable of reproducing sexually belong in the teleomorphic genus Arthroderma, of the Ascomycota (see Teleomorph, anamorph and holomorph for more information on this type of fungal life cycle).

Non dermatophytes

Apparently "non dermatophytes" are a type(s) of fungi. What's the difference between "dermatophytes" and "non dermatophytes"? Which of these two does the Malassezia genus and the candidiasis genus belong to?

Tinea

Descriptions of various types of tinea make up a large portion of the article. Which of the three groups of fungi do they belong to, as mentioned in the intro? When using the word groups: is "genera" actually meant. The taxonomic description, in general, appears a little unclear.

এলার্জি

রিং আকৃতি হয় ওষুধ খাইলে ভালো আবার বন্ধ করেছে বারে 210.1.246.64 (talk) 19:47, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

Various issues with this article including consistency in formatting and content

There are a few issues I noticed with this article and wondered if others agreed that these should be changed?

1- The way this part is currently worded makes it seem somewhat contradictory to me but I’m not totally sure?

Although symptoms can be barely noticeable in some cases, dermatophytoses can produce "chronic progressive eruptions that last months or years, causing considerable discomfort and disfiguration."[8] Dermatophytoses are generally painless and are not life-threatening.[8]

This part dermatophytoses can produce "chronic progressive eruptions that last months or years, causing considerable discomfort and disfiguration seems to contradict the next sentence: Dermatophytoses are generally painless and are not life-threatening.

The second sentence should perhaps just be reworded to something like However, in most cases dermatophytoses are generally painless and are not life-threatening if that’s what the sources suggest, or perhaps removed or reworded to something else if sources suggest this isn’t true of “most cases” but simply “some cases”.

I didn’t want to use “some cases” as that gets repetitive (as it’s also used in the first sentence) but maybe this last sentence isn’t needed given the first sentence already states Although symptoms can be barely noticeable in some cases, making the last sentence a bit redundant? It could just me merged into a slight rewording of that first sentence.

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2- Should this be clarified?

The infection can be seen between toes (interdigital pattern)[10] and may spread to the sole of the foot in a "moccasin" pattern.

It’s not clear (to me anyway) what is meant by “moccasin pattern”. I don’t know whether this is a clinical term, but I think it might be helpful for readers who aren’t already familiar with the article’s subject to define this term, especially given that multiple other terms (such as "vesiculobullous pattern" and “onycholysis”) are given short inline definitions.

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3- Incorrect definition?

The lesions may be accompanied by peeling, maceration (peeling due to moisture), and itching.

Someone more familiar with medical terminology please contradict me if I’m incorrect, but I don’t think “peeling due to moisture” is really an accurate definition of “maceration.” According to the wiki article on Skin maceration, it is defined as: the softening and breaking down of skin resulting from prolonged exposure to moisture. I suppose peeling could be one way this manifests, but I think the “softening” and “breakdown” of tissues are more specifically accurate. So the above inline definition should maybe be reworded? Might be helpful to include an inline link to the relevant article as well?

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4- Add additional in-line links to relevant articles?

As mentioned above with maceration, there are a number of topics mentioned in the article that don’t link to their own articles. I’m still a little unclear on how to decide when a link is necessary or helpful, so I wasn’t sure about making this change myself, but I think it might be helpful to add internal links to the following:

- Delayed hypersensitivity - From the last sentence of the 3rd paragraph:

The development of cell-mediated immunity correlated with delayed hypersensitivity and an inflammatory response is associated with clinical cure, whereas the lack of or defective cell-mediated immunity predisposes the host to chronic or recurrent dermatophyte infection

- Tinea cruris, Tinea corporis, Tinea faciei, & Tinea capitis. The sections on Tinea pedis, Tinea manuum, Onychomycosis, and Tinea incognita all link to the topics’ articles but none of the others do. That should probably be applied consistently.

Also the link for Tinea incognita appears in the subsection heading, but for Tinea pedis, Tinea manuum, and Onychomycosis, it appears in the first usage of the term after the heading/in the body text. I feel it should be always the heading or always the first usage of the term in the body text (I’m not sure which is considered wiki-standard) but either way it should be done consistently.

Onychomycosis also lacks any sort of summary unlike the others, it just says “see [article link].” Should a brief summary be added there to bring it in line with the other subsections?

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5- Another inconsistency here:

In order for dermatophytoses to occur, the fungus must directly contact the skin.

The article mentions nail/nail plate infections multiple times, which seems to contradict this claim? It could be changed to something like “skin or nail” for clarification and accuracy but I’m not sure what the sources specifically say (as many are books or journal articles I can’t access). If the source itself contradicts other sources perhaps a better source should be found for this part or an explanation for the contradiction should be added (for example if older sources made one claim but more recent sources/more recent research have been found to contradict earlier claims)?

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Haven’t had a chance to read the rest of the article but I need to stop here for now. I’ll look over the rest later if I have some time. Catfrost (talk) 04:02, 20 January 2026 (UTC)