<p>New Delhi: Over 30 dermatologists have proposed to rename a skin-disease causing fungus - named after India – arguing that it has been reported from more than 40 nations without any confirmation on India being the country of origin.</p><p>Named, Trichophyton indotineae, the pathogen causes difficult-to-treat skin infections that are widely reported from India.</p><p>“It is an inaccurate and pejorative name. Such region specific nomenclature prejudicially impacts the perceptions of clinicians and public alike,” as many as 35 doctors from India and 13 other countries have reported.</p><p>The fungus was named after India in 2020 by a Japanese group on the basis of two isolates from India and Nepal, following an academic practice of identifying a new pathogen after the country where it was first sighted.</p><p>But a section of doctors now questioned such a nomenclature noting that the choice of the suffix ‘indotineae’ in describing this new species was “hurried and inappropriate” as its origin was not clearly known.</p>.Currency notes carry deadly pathogens, says study.<p>“It is clear that the fungus existed in several other countries before it came into the spotlight as the causative agent of treatment recalcitrant dermatophytoses in India,” said Abir Saraswat, a Lucknow-based dermatologist and one of the 35 doctors who wrote against the nomenclature.</p><p>Fresh objections on a pathogen’s name surfaced 14 years after the NDM1 row when in a Lancet study researchers reported wide prevalence of a new germ – New Delhi metallo-beta lactamase-1 (NDM-1) – resistant to carbapenem, the strongest antibiotic known so far.</p><p>The NDM-1 nomenclature kick started a major controversy on the infection-free nature of Indian hospitals even as the Union government strongly refuted such a naming.</p><p>“Naming after a geography is a regressive practice. There are scientific ways to characterise a pathogen for identification,” Saraswat told DH.</p><p>The skin fungus has been documented in over 40 countries, where in every case it is not certain that the primary infection originated in India.</p><p>“This is a sub-species of a known species and was earlier known by a different name. But now studies come out with researchers describing it as T.indotineae. We can use molecular tools to analyse the fungus and name accordingly,” said Kabir Sardana, professor of dermatology at RML Hospital here.</p><p>Sardana said more attention should be given to understand why this fungus developed so much resistance to treatments as it is widely prevalent.</p><p>The doctors’ appeal has appeared in the latest issue of the Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology.</p>
<p>New Delhi: Over 30 dermatologists have proposed to rename a skin-disease causing fungus - named after India – arguing that it has been reported from more than 40 nations without any confirmation on India being the country of origin.</p><p>Named, Trichophyton indotineae, the pathogen causes difficult-to-treat skin infections that are widely reported from India.</p><p>“It is an inaccurate and pejorative name. Such region specific nomenclature prejudicially impacts the perceptions of clinicians and public alike,” as many as 35 doctors from India and 13 other countries have reported.</p><p>The fungus was named after India in 2020 by a Japanese group on the basis of two isolates from India and Nepal, following an academic practice of identifying a new pathogen after the country where it was first sighted.</p><p>But a section of doctors now questioned such a nomenclature noting that the choice of the suffix ‘indotineae’ in describing this new species was “hurried and inappropriate” as its origin was not clearly known.</p>.Currency notes carry deadly pathogens, says study.<p>“It is clear that the fungus existed in several other countries before it came into the spotlight as the causative agent of treatment recalcitrant dermatophytoses in India,” said Abir Saraswat, a Lucknow-based dermatologist and one of the 35 doctors who wrote against the nomenclature.</p><p>Fresh objections on a pathogen’s name surfaced 14 years after the NDM1 row when in a Lancet study researchers reported wide prevalence of a new germ – New Delhi metallo-beta lactamase-1 (NDM-1) – resistant to carbapenem, the strongest antibiotic known so far.</p><p>The NDM-1 nomenclature kick started a major controversy on the infection-free nature of Indian hospitals even as the Union government strongly refuted such a naming.</p><p>“Naming after a geography is a regressive practice. There are scientific ways to characterise a pathogen for identification,” Saraswat told DH.</p><p>The skin fungus has been documented in over 40 countries, where in every case it is not certain that the primary infection originated in India.</p><p>“This is a sub-species of a known species and was earlier known by a different name. But now studies come out with researchers describing it as T.indotineae. We can use molecular tools to analyse the fungus and name accordingly,” said Kabir Sardana, professor of dermatology at RML Hospital here.</p><p>Sardana said more attention should be given to understand why this fungus developed so much resistance to treatments as it is widely prevalent.</p><p>The doctors’ appeal has appeared in the latest issue of the Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology.</p>
