Podal fungal infections can interfere in the sportive performance, since they provoke discomfort and pain in the athletes. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of podal fungal infections in a professional soccer team, verifying the more frequent agents and the predisposing factors to that condition. The research had a transversal and descriptive outlining. The sampling was composed by twenty-two 23 to 36 years old male athletes from the professional Chinese soccer team on the occasion they participated in a game series in Curitiba (PR). All athletes were clinically assessed, and they were submitted to mycological examinations (direct and culture) of the skin and nail's squamas from their feet, as well as to a histopathologic study of the ungual fragment. The results found were: twelve cases (54.5%) did not present mycosis; 5 cases (22.72%) presented isolated onychomycosis, and 5 cases (22.72%) presented onychomycosis associated to tinea pedis, having as major isolated agent the Trichophyton rubrum. The predisposing agents pointed by athletes included: bath in a public place (85%), sports practice (76%), use of closed shoes (70%), contact with pets (63%), and irregular feet hygiene (50%). CONCLUSION: The frequency of the onychomycosis in Chinese athletes was higher than in the general population. The most frequent agent found it was the Trichophyton rubrum. The individual habits may contribute to the acquisition of these fungal infections added to the direct trauma provoked by the shoe and the ball, as well as to the physical contact during the trainings and games that may favor the cutaneous and ungual injuries.
Soccer athletes; Tinea pedis; Onychomycosis
