Tinea Capitis in the Adult and Adolescent

Tinea capitis in the Elderly

“…Kerion formations for instance are more fre quent in children and adolescents [2,7], In the first case described, the patient had moderate scaling and erythema on the scalp masquerading as an eczema seborrhoeicum, and in the second case a plaque of discoid lu pus erythematosus was initially suspected. The so-called 'black-dot' seen in our cases is characteristic, but far from obligate, of T. tonsurans infections [9], It can also be seen in other endothrix infections and it is formed because the arthrospores inside the hair shaft makes the hair very brittle and ea sily broken off at the skin level.…”

“…Tinea capitis due to Trichophyton tonsu rans may produce a variety of clinical man-ifcstations, with inflammatory or nonin flammatory lesions, often mimicking other diseases such as impetigo, folliculitis capitis or alopecia areata, eczema seborrhoeicum and chronic discoid lupus erythematosus [4,7).…”

“…T. tonsurans affects both chil dren and adults but infection of the scalp be comes extremely rare over the age of 60 [2,7,10],…”

Tinea Capitis: An Adult Invasion of a Childhood Scourge

“…Tinea capitis is an affliction, predominantly of preadolescent children as hardly 4.9% of tinea capitis occurs in adults [6]. Adults are mostly reported as being asymptomatic carriers of tinea capitis in households where the children are infected [7].…”

“…The thick caliber of adult human hair is also protective against dermatophyte invasion [9]. These features decrease the physician's index of suspicion of tinea capitis infection in adults [6].…”