The Biology of Fungous Infections of the Feet

Fungous infection of the feet is one of the most common dermatoses found in man and a disease which is usually recognized as readily by non-specialists as by specialists. The causal organisms of tinea pedis have been well known for many years, and the means to demonstrate and identify them are relatively simple and available. Fungous infections of the skin with some species of dermatophytes can be regularly produced in laboratory animals, and thus a laboratory model for the study of these infections has been available for many years. Relatively effective nonspecific forms of topical therapy have been in widespread use for several decades, and specific forms of systemic and local therapy for fungous infections of the feet have become available in recent years. It is the more remarkable how little is really known about the biology of fungous infections of the feet in man. There is no doubt that