Trichophyton tonsurans Infection in Wrestlers and a Child / 대한피부과학회지

ABSTRACT

Trichophyton tonsurans has been the main agent of tinea capitis in the United States since 1950s. In Korea, dermatophytosis due to Trichophyton tonsurans has begun to be reported since 1995. These Korean cases were all confined to wrestlers. We report eight patients with dermatophytosis due to Trichophyton tonsurans, Seven of them were middle-school wrestlers and the other, a six-year-old boy, was a non-wrestler. The infection of the wrestler patients was known to have originated from contact with infected persons during wrestling competitions. The source of Trichophyton tonsurans in the boy patient was obscure. To our knowledge, tinea capitis caused by Trichophyton tonsurans in a non-wrestler Korean has not been reported previously.