Human skin is vulnerable to any microorganism able to withstand “low moisture and high osmotic pressure.” Consequently, fungi enabled to grow on existing keratin, then colonizing the outer layer of the epidermis, can trigger a vast number of skin diseases, disorders, or infections. According to (Tortora, Funke, Case) Microbiology An Introduction 10th ed., any fungal disease of the hair, nails, or stratum corneum is formally characterized as dermatomycoses. However, while this fungal condition is more informally known as tineas or ringworm, it seems an unsuitable name simply because the condition is caused by fungi of several different species and not by parasitic worms.
Centuries ago the Romans adapted the Latin term tinea, for clothes moth, because the infection resembles the holes left by the wormlike larvae of the moth in wool clothing. The infection Tinea cruris, most commonly known jock itch is a superficial fungal infection of the groin caused by species of Trichophyton or Epidermophyton floccosum, the second most
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(Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 8th edition. © 2009, Elsevier)
Jock itch effects all sexes, but is most commonly seen in the tropics and among males. It tends to expand circularly, in an itchy red ring shaped rash affecting the skin of the genitals, inner thighs and buttocks. Dermatophytes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/fungal/dermatophytes. Accessed May 24,