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Trichophton tonsurans remains #1 fungal organism causing tinea capitis in the US — Donovan Hair Clinic


T. Tonsurans overshadows all other causes of tinea capitis in US

Authors of a new study set out to evaluate the causative fungal agents involved in tinea capitis, as well as to determine exactly which groups of patients are getting these infections and which groups of doctors are ordering these tests.

 The authors evaluated data from Labcorp (which is a US commercial laboratory) from 2019 to 2022.

Among 20,259 fungal culture results, most patients were children (median age: 8.0 years). 10.1 % were age 2 or under, 60.3% were 3-12, 12.1 % were 13-21 and 17.5 % were over 21. 53.5 % were male (53.5%). The common ordering specialties were dermatology (43.3%) and pediatrics (35.6%).

Overall, 7,046 (34.8%) results were positive for fungus; of these, 69.0% were dermatophytes, 11.4% non-dermatophyte molds, 10.8% yeasts, and 8.7% unspecified fungus.

Among dermatophytes,   89.1% were Trichophyton (mostly T. Tonsurans but some T. violaceum, T. rubrum, T. mentagrophytes, and T. Soudanense), 10.6%  Microsporum (92.3% M. canus but some minor proportions of M gypseum and M. audouinii ), and 0.2% Epidermophyton.

This study found a  higher combined percentage of yeasts (10.8% -ie. Candida) and non-dermatophyte molds (11.4% – ie. Aspergillus and Fusarium) . The authors points out that these organisms likely represent scalp or hair colonization or contamination and, unlike TC, rarely require systemic  antifungal treatment.

 

Summary

This data shows that in the US, T. tonsurans remains the most common dermatophyte. Most patients with tinea capitis are in the 3-12 range.

REFERENCE

Gold, JA. Epidemiology of tinea capitis causative species: an analysis of fungal culture results from a major U.S. national commercial laboratory. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2023 Mar 30;S0190-9622(23)00526-1.



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