ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Microsporum(M.) canis infection was first discovered in 1957 in Korea, but it did not spread and disappeared after 1960. It was iscovered again in 1975, and rapidly spread all over the country. In the 1980's, M. canis became one of the most important dermatophytes that infected humans. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of M. canis infections. METHODS: We observed the clinical and epidemiological status in 2,256 cases of M. canis infections that were mycologically diagnosed at the Catholic Skin Disease Clinic from 1983 to 1992. RESULTS: The rate of M. canis infections compared to total dermatophytoses(25,907 patients) was 8.7%. The annual number of patients with M. canis infection increased gradually from 1983 and was highest frequency in 1986. Then the number of patients with M. canis infection was markedly decreased till 1992. The ratio of male to female patients was 0.85: 1(male:1,039, female:1,217), but the ratio in children (age16) was 0.33: 1. Children were chiefly involved as 82.6% of the patients. There were more patients in winter(35.3%) and followed by fall, summer and spring. M. canis infections were mostly composed of tinea(T.) capitis(64.2%), T.faciale(17.7%) and T. corporis(14.6%). In the seasonal distribution of M. canis infections, T. capitis was the most common in winter(38.8%) and was the lowest in summer(15.4%), but T. corporis was the most common in summer(42%). There was a difference in disease pattern between children and adults in M. canis infections; In children, M. canis infections were T. capitis(73.6%), T. faciale(16.3%),7 corporis(9%), but in adults, those were 7. corporis(41.3%), 7. faciale(24.5%), T. capitis(19.4%) in the order of decreasing frequency. CONCLUSION: We observed a gradual decrease in number of patient with M. canis infection after 1986. We suggest that M. canis infections would decrease more and more in the future in Korea.