Spread of Dermatophytes Among Families

Enrolled families consist of at least two members over the age of 14. Once the index person is examined and a dermatophyte is isolated from either toenail or foot scale, other family members are examined and cultured. All dermatophyte isolates obtained from each family unit are compared using DNA typing and restriction length polymorphism (RFLP) to determine whether family members share the same organism or were infected by an outside source.