Dermatophytes, related keratinophilic and opportunistic fungi were isolated from indoor dust samples of 46 hospitals and 47 houses in Kanpur. A total of 19 fungi represented by 11 genera were isolated by the hair-baiting technique from 230 and 235 samples from hospitals and houses respectively. The isolated fungi are
Acremonium implicatum
(Indian Type Culture Collection) ITCC 5266
, A. strictum (Germplasm Centre for Keratinophilic Fungi) GPCK 1137,
Aphanoascus fulvescens
GPCK 1081,
Arthroderma simii
GPCK 1275,
Chrysosporium queenslandicum
ITCC 5270
, C. indicum ITCC 5269
, C. pannicola GPCK 1022
, C. tropicum GPCK 1269,
Ctenomyces serratus
ITCC 5267,
Gymnoascus reessii
ITCC 5265,
Malbranchea fulva
GPCK 1075,
Malbranchea pulchella
ITCC 5268,
Micosporum gypseum
GPCK 1038,
Microsporum cookei
GPCK 2001,
M. fulvum GPCK 2002,
Paecilomyces lilacinum
GPCK 1080,
Penicillium expansum
GPCK 1082,
Trichophyton mentagrophytes
GPCK 2003 and
T. terrestre GPCK 2004. In hospitals, the minimum frequency was of
Ctenomyces serratus ITCC 5267 while the maximum frequency was of
Arthroderma simii GPCK 1275. In houses,
Chrysosporium queenslandicum ITCC 5270 and
C. tropicum GPCK 1269 were with minimum and maximum frequencies respectively. This makes the first report of these fungi with keratinolytic ability in the indoor dust of hospitals and houses.
