Evaluation of the Prevalence of Otomycosis in Patients Referred to the ENT Clinic

Objective: Otomycosis is a common fungal infection of the outer ear that is seen in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. This disease is one of the common problems that ENT specialists, face. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the status and frequency of this disease in patients referred to the ENT clinic of Salmaniya Medical Complex, Kingdom of Bahrain for one year (2019-2020). Materials & Methods: Thirty-five patients (23 males and 12 females) were mycologically examined with a clinical diagnosis of otomycosis. In order to diagnose the disease, first ear sampling done and then the collected samples directly tested with 10% KOH and culture of samples was performed on Saburo dextrose agar and Saburo dextrose agar containing chloramphenicol. In order to determine the fungus species, various laboratory methods and differential tests were used. Results: In this study, out of 56 patients with clinical diagnosis of otomycosis, according to laboratory results, only 38 patients (67.8%) were diagnosed with otomycosis. Of these, 18 patients (32.1%) were male and 20 (35.7%) were female. The highest number of cases was observed in the age group of 30 - 40 years. Isolated fungal agents were: Aspergillus niger 24 cases (63.1%), Candida albicans 9 cases (23.7%), Aspergillus fumigatus 2 cases (5.3%), Aspergillus glaucous 2 cases (5.3%), and Penicillium one case (2.6%). Conclusion: In this study, the most common fungi isolated from patients with otomycosis were Aspergillus and Candida species, which is consistent with other studies. The present study showed, otomycosis cannot be diagnosed by clinical symptoms alone and it requires laboratory diagnosis.