Molecular Epidemiological Analysis of the Spreading Conditions of Trichophyton in the Long-term Care Facilities in Japan.

Tinea pedis and Tinea unguium are the common infectious disease, and it is reported a lot of the elderly people develop these infections. In this study, in order to investigate whether strains from the same type origin are spreading inside the long-term care facility or not, we analyzed Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes isolated from the residents and the staff at the facilities located in Kanto area, using a genomic analytical method targeting tandem repeat regions in the non-transcribed spacer (NTS) region of ribosomal DNA. Five NTS types were confirmed in T. rubrum. T. rubrum of various types (type 1 to 5) were observed at each facility, but there was no specific strain in the limited facility only. Number of NTS types of T. mentgrophytes was eight, and T. mentagrophytes which carried NTS type that confirmed in one facility only (type C4II, F4II and D4II) was isolated. These T. mentagrophytes were isolated from the several subjects residing at the same facility. This study proved that T. mentagrophytes strain of the same type had spread in the long-term care facilities. We suggested the importance of cleaning in the long-term care facility as a countermeasure for the spread of Trichophyton.