Nail Fungus Statistics

We hear that more people are getting fungal nail infections (onychomycosis) than ever before, and that these infections are more prevalent in certain groups, but how often do we get any real nail fungus statistics? Just how many people get onychomycosis; what are the risk factors, and what types of infections do they get? Are the numbers we hear passed around accurate? What’s the most common form of treatment? Very few scientific studies have tried to accurately answer these questions. Recently, researchers in France published the results of a fifteen month survey of dermatologists in that country.

One of the more interesting statistical facts for onychomycosis coming from the study is that in many cases, the dermatologists did not do any laboratory testing before treating patients for the infection. This is important because, of those who did have samples sent to the lab for fungal culture, about a third had negative results. Although some of these were probably false negatives, it’s clear that not everyone with suspicious symptoms actually has onychomycosis—and when people are treated without confirming the diagnosis, it puts them at risk of side effects and skews nail fungus statistics.

Also of interest, the study found that the majority of patients had toenail infections (88.7%), and that the majority of these infections were caused by a dermatophyte – a fungus that lives in hair, skin, and nails. The nail fungus statistics results showed that the few people with fingernail infections usually had yeast infections – infections caused by the same organism that causes oral thrush and vaginitis, or a closely related organism.
Almost three quarters of toe infections involved the nail bed nearest the tip of the toe. Statistical facts for onychomycosis gathered also identified some associated diseases, such as diabetes; however, these involved only a small number of patients.

The study looked at treatment as well. As would be expected, French dermatologists often used oral pharmaceutical treatments (59% of cases) as opposed to topicals, and the resulting statistical facts for onychomycosis do not provide any information about popular home remedies or alternative treatments. In 65% of treated infections, two medications were used at the same time, reflecting the current difficulty of treating these stubborn fungal infections. Though one study does not does not give us the whole truth about nail fungus statistics, it does provide valuable information about the current situation.

Source: Guibal, F., R. Baran, E. Duhard et al. “Epidemiology and Management of Onychomycosis in Private Dermatological Practice in France.” Ann Dermatol Venereol 2008 Aug-Sep; 135(8-9):561-6.