Abstract: Objective To profile the type and pathogen of superficial fungal infections at rural areas of Jiangxi province in China. Methods A field investigation was conducted via benefit diagnosis in 66 towns, 54 counties of 11 regions in Jiangxi province, China, from September 2006 to June 2007. Questionnaire was designed to collect demography and clinical data from local inhabitants. Additionally, when the lesion was positive for fungus on microscopic examination, fungal culture was performed. Results A total of 1, 284 patients were recruited, and 73.75% （947） were peasants. Fungal culture was performed in specimens from 513 patients. Among the 1,284 cases, tinea pedis accouted for 57.32% （736）, followed by tinea manum (15.73%）, onychomycosis （5.61%）, tinea corporis（3.66%）, tinea cruris （2.26%）, pityriasis versicolor （1.79%）, tinea capitis（0.08%）, cutaneous candidiasis （0.08%）, and multiple-site fungal infections （13.47%）. From the 513 samples, 480 fungal strains were isolated, and 301 were Trichophyton rubrum, 88 were Candida albicans, 41 were Trichophyton mentagrophyte, and 50 were other species of fungi. Conclusions Trichophyton rubrum is the most dominant pathogen of superficial mycoses, followed by Candida albicans . The species distribution of fungi in different areas is inconsistent, however, no statistical difference was found in this study.

Key words: superficial fungal infetion, field investigaton