Tinea capitis in adults during 1981–95 in Northern Greece

Abstract

The mycological laboratory of our Hospital examined 31,073 patients between 1981 and 1995. Sex, age, the residence of patients, the clinical type of tinea and contacts with other persons and animals were investigated. All the patients were also examined under Wood's light. Tinea capitis was diagnosed in 35 adults. Trichophyton violaceum was the commonest aetiological agent (54.5%), especially in elderly women. The other anthropophilic fungi were T. rubrum (8.5%), T. schoenleinii (5.7%) and T. tonsurans (2.8%). The zoophilic fungi Microsporum canis (14.3%), T. terrucosum (8.5%) and T. mentagrophytes (5.7%) were also isolated.

Tinea capitis in adults: A 18‐year retrospective, single‐centre study in Korea

“…The prevalence of adult TC varies in different countries (Table ). The incidence of adult TC was previously reported to be <1%; however, a higher rate of incidence has been reported by studies from different regions and countries: 4.9%‐11.4% in USA,2.6%‐11.4% in Europe (2.6% in Italy,5.8% in Greece,11.0% in France,11.4% in Spain), 4.2%‐5.3% in Africa (4.2% in Egypt,5.3% in Tunisians) and 6%‐13.6% in China . Extraordinarily high incidence rate of 63% was observed in Taiwan .…”

“…Tinea capitis primarily occurs in prepubertal children between 3 and 14 years of age. TC in adults is rare, but is occasionally found among the elderly . The rarity of TC in adults is not well understood, but can be explained by fungistatic properties of the long‐chain fatty acids in postpubertal sebum, maturation of hair follicles and immune system after adulthood that may protect against fungal invasion .…”

Microsporum canis tinea capitis in a centenarian patient

“…Tinea capitis in adults has been reported to occur in patients who are immunosuppressed or HIV-infected; [4] however, there is not enough evidence to support this. Devliotou-Panagliotidou et al [1] reported 35 adults with tinea capitis, 27 of them with a typical pattern of menopause but none with any immunological deficiency.…”

“…It is overwhelmingly an infection of prepubertal children, but is being increasingly recognized in adults though it was once considered to be uncommon in this age-group. [1] Microsporum canis (M. canis) is the dominant cause of tinea capitis in Greece. [2] In this article we present probably the oldest patient with M. canis tinea capitis to be reported in the literature.…”

Favus in an elderly Kashmiri female: A rare occurrence

“…[2] Tinea capitis is uncommon in adults[3] due to many reasons such as fungistatic-saturated fatty acids in sebum that appears at puberty, colonization by malassezia globosa that interferes with dermatophyte contamination and the thicker calibre of adult hair that protects against dermatophytic invasion. [4] Tinea capitis in adults has been reported to occur in patients who are immunosuppressed or HIV-infected.…”