ABSTRACT
Cutaneous fungal infections cause significant morbidity for both healthy and ill patients, and the incidence of some dermatomycoses is increasing despite availability of newer and better topical and systemic treatments. This may be due to an unresolved fungal reservoir, which allows for the continued spread of infection or to the failure to diagnose a dermatophyte infection in time to prevent a more extensive, severe, or difficult-to-treat infection. Better efforts to educate patients and physicians alike may aid in faster recognition, diagnosis, and treatment of dermatophytoses. Although newer oral antifungal agents for the treatment of invasive and superficial infections have significantly improved the efficacy of treatment for many fungal infections, there remains a need to develop new drugs with fewer side effects and greater activity against resistant strains. More research is needed to continue to develop drugs suitable for use in a broader range of patients and diagnostic tests that may be quicker or more specific than conventional ones. This chapter blends current clinical knowledge of superficial and cutaneous fungal infections with recent advances in disease management.
