Simultaneous Occurrence of Tinea corporis Caused by Microsporum canis in a Grandmother and a Granddaughter / 대한의진균학회지

ABSTRACT

Microsporum (M.) canis is one of the zoophilic dermatophytes which can cause ringworm in cats and dogs and is responsible for 3~30% of tinea corporis and tinea capitis in human. It is most likely transmitted by contact with infected animals, but rare cases of person-to-person transmission and an outbreak among school girls have also been reported. Herein we report on interesting cases of tinea corporis caused by M. canis in a grandmother and a granddaughter. A 63-year-old woman presented with pruritic, scaly, erythematous plaques on the post. neck and trunk which had started 2 months ago. Also her 9-year-old granddaughter presented with pruritic, annular, erythematous plaques on chest and back for 7 days. They denied contact with animals. KOH smear showed several hyphaes on microscope. Fungus culture on potato dextrose agar showed growth of colonies with whitish fluffy surface and radial folds, the dorsal surface of the colonies showed golden-brown color which were identified as M. canis in both patients. As for the grandmother the lesions improved with oral itraconazole 200 mg/day for 7 days and topical antifungal cream for 5 weeks which resulted in marked improvement of the lesions.