Tinea capitis in Germany. A survey in 1998

Abstract

Under the assignment of the ECMM (European Confederation of Medical Mycology) a survey regarding frequency, infectious spectrum and therapy of tinea capitis was conducted in Germany in 1998. In this survey 154 dermatology practitioners and 19 hospitals throughout Germany participated. There were 394 conditions reported, 377 with and 17 without identification of the infectious agent. The most frequent infectious agent was M. canis (n= 216; 54,8%) before T. mentagrophytes (n = 58; 14,7 %), T. verrucosum (n = 32; 8,1 %), T. violaceum (n = 24; 6, 1 %) and T. tonsurans (n = 15; 3,8%). Zoophilic dermatophytes (n = 306; 81,2%) predominated over anthropophilic species (n = 71; 18,8%) in the ratio of 4:1. Tinea capitis microsporica showed to be a more frequent infectious disease again which due to its high virulence and contagiosity of the infectious agent represents a therapeutical problem. Tinea capitis occured in an average age of 17,3 years. The preferred therapeutical regimen was a combination of systemic and topical antimycotics in 61,5% (n = 176) of the reported cases (n = 286). A solely topical or systemical monotherapy was reported in 25,2 % (n = 72) respectively 13,3 % (n = 38) of the patients. In case of systemic antimycotics the most frequent used drugs were griseofulvin (43,0%, n = 101), fluconazole (25,1%, n = 59) or itraconazole (18,7%; n = 44), in topical preparations ciclopiroxolamine dominated (53,3 %, n = 121) prior to clotrimazole (13,2%, n = 30) and terbinafine (7,1 %, n = 16). Different from the situation in Germany and in Southern Europe some of the western European countries show a tendency of an increase of anthropophilic agents in tinea capitis.

Superficial mycoses in the Nis region, Southeast-Serbia

“…However in the United Kingdom [7] the most prevalent species is T. tonsurans, while in France [2] those are T. soudanense and M. audouinii. Nevertheless in these European countries it was found that the zoophilic species such as M. canis, T. mentagrophytes and T. verrucosum are the most frequentely isolated dermathophytes from the material of patientes who live in rural areas [1][2][3][4][7][8][9][10]. Epidermophyton flocossum, was detected in a significant percentage as the cause of superficial mycosis in Finland and Germany [8,9].…”

“…By evaluating numerous studies of a large group of authors, it is discovered that the most comon cause of superficial mycosis in European countries are the species T. rubrum, M. canis, T. mentagrophytes var granulosum and T. verrucosum [7][8][9][10]. Species M. audouinii, T. soudanense and T. violaceum, causes of so-called immigrational mycosis, can rarely be detected in this area of our continent, considering the fact that endemic zones for these species are in Africa and some regions of Asia [1].…”

“…It is supposed that there will be an incident increase of mycoses caused by this species, due to a greater migration of people and development of tourism. T. rubrum is proven to be the most common cause of dermatomycosis in developing countries in Europe [1,[7][8][9][10]. This species is a frequent pathogen in Germany, Finland and Russia urban regions [1][2][3][4][7][8][9].…”

“…Nevertheless in these European countries it was found that the zoophilic species such as M. canis, T. mentagrophytes and T. verrucosum are the most frequentely isolated dermathophytes from the material of patientes who live in rural areas [1][2][3][4][7][8][9][10]. Epidermophyton flocossum, was detected in a significant percentage as the cause of superficial mycosis in Finland and Germany [8,9]. From 1960 to 1990 in Belgium and Netherlands the prevalence of superficial mycosis caused by M. canis increased from 9% to more than 40%, after a long period of T. verrucosum predominance [10].…”

Rare fungal species in the dermatological practice

“…Emellett ész-lelhetô, hogy egyes földrészek és államok gombafajai között is tekintélyes eltérések mutatkoznak. Ugyanakkor a népesség migrációja, a bevándorlások, utazások elôidézik a gombafajok államok, földrészek közötti keveredését (1). A legtöbb európai államba a menekültek, átutazók révén kerülnek be ritka gombafajok, és okoznak megbetegedéseket.…”