Mycological and epidemiological aspects of tinea capitis in the Sousse region of Tunisia

Aim: Tinea capitis continues to be considered a public health problem in Tunisia. The purpose of our study was to investigate trends in the incidence and the mycological and epidemiological aspects of tinea capitis in the Sousse region (Central Tunisia). Method: Our work is a retrospective study concerning all scalp samples taken by the parasitology laboratory of the Farhat Hached Hospital in Sousse, Tunisia, over a 26-year period (1983-2008). Results: A total of 10,505 specimens were examined. Of these, 5593 were positive with positive direct examination and/or positive culture. The average incidence was 215 cases per year. Patients were aged under 12 years in 89.3% of cases. A total of 175 cases of tinea capitis in adults were diagnosed. Ten dermatophyte species were isolated: Trichophyton (T.) violaceum (66.7%), Microsporum (M.) canis (29.3%), T. schoenleinii (1.6%), T. mentagrophytes (1.1%), T. verrucosum (0.6%), T. tonsurans (0.2%), T. rubrum (0.2%), M. gypseum (0.1%), M. audouinii (0.03%) and M. nanum (0.01%). Conclusion: Our study showed a decrease in the annual incidence of tinea capitis over the study period with an evident decrease in trichophytic tinea and disappearance of favus giving way to microsporic and inflammatory tinea. © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.