Diagnosis
Other diagnostic tools are used if one suspects a fungal infection due to visible skin changes. With the help of a smear or by scraping off small skin scales, these can be examined under a microscope. If this is not sufficient, it may be necessary to collect samples from deeper skin layers by means of a biopsy.
In this way the diagnosis is confirmed. It is also possible to grow a fungal culture from the material obtained. This means that the fungi are cultivated on a culture medium in order to identify the exact pathogen. Another method is the use of so-called “wood light”, which causes the infested regions to appear in a different color depending on the pathogen.
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