Povidone-iodine wash solutions in the prevention of superficial fungal infections; predictive evaluation using the corneofungimetry bioassay.

Objective: Prevention of superficial mycoses remains a stubborn problem. The effect of antiseptics for that purpose is largely unknown. We studied the potential fungitoxic activity of povidone iodine (PVP-I) contained in wash solutions.

Methods: The corneofungimetry bioassay was conducted using PVP-I at 1.33%, 2.5%, 4% and 7.5% as test products and four target fungi, namely Candida albicans, Trichophyton rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, var. interdigitale (20 strains) and Microsporum canis.

Results: Data show that PVP-I limits fungal growth on stratum corneum. Different species and strains of fungi are not similarly affected. There also exists a diversity of individual susceptibility of the stratum corneum to promote germination of yeasts and arthroconidia.