Clinical, Dermoscopic, and Mycological Characteristics of Tinea Capitis in Children

Summary

Tinea capitis is a common dermatophyte infection of the scalp in children aged 0-9 years .The prevalence of tinea capitis in Egypt is 0.4% and higher in public than private schools, Boys were more affected than girls according to children by 5:1 ratio , It is more prevalent in those who live in urban areas, large families, low socioeconomic level, crowded living conditions and immunocompromised people . Tinea capitis is caused by dermatophyte fungi Trichophyton and Microsporum genera. These fungi are classified as: anthropophilic, zoophilic, and geophilic according to the route of infection. These fungi invade the hair shaft in two routes: ectothrix and endothrix . T.tonsurans and T.violaceum are reported to be the most common cause of tinea capitis

Conditions

• Fungal Infection by Site
• Tinea Capitis

Interventions

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Dermoscopic examination: the findings are divided into pathognomic and non-specific signs

1. Pathognomic signs: comma hairs, corkscrew hairs, Morse code like hairs and zig-zag hairs. 2. Non-specific signs: black dots, broken hairs, perifollicular scaling and inter follicular erythema

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Direct Microscopy (KOH) examination

1. Suspected lesions will be swabbed with 70% ethyl alcohol then scalp scraping using the blunt edge of a sterile surgical blade 2. Skin scales and crusts will be collected from the erythematous, peripheral, actively expanding edges of the lesions onto clean glass slides by scraping the inflamed lesions the scales will contain infected stumps of hair 3. Hair will be removed with the root intact (hair cutting will be avoided) 4. Specimen will be prepared by mounting the sample in (10-30%) of potassium hydroxide with 40% Dimethyle sulphoxide (DMSO) drops on the petri slide to soften the tissue, allowing a thin layer of cells to form.

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Fungal culture:

Specimen will be cultured on sabouraud's dextrose agar (SDA) at 25 -30 c for 2 to 4 weeks and another specimen will be cultured on a Dermasel agar base (Oxoid, UK), both supplemented with chloramphenicol and cycloheximide , staining the fungal colonies by Lactophenol cotton blue to help the examination of colonial morphology and microscopic examination of the macro-conidia allow the identification of the dermatophyte species and suitable treatment

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Antifungal sensitivity:

Antifungal susceptibility testing will be performed to determine the specific sensitivity profiles of the fungal isolates. Antifungal susceptibility testing will be performed using seven antifungal agents: Terbinafine, Itraconazole, Griseofulvin, Fluconazole, Ketoconazole, Vorioconole and Miconazole. Dermatophytes colonies will be probed from Dermasel agar cultures.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Sohag University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Mohammed Abu El Hamd Ali · Faculty of Medicine , Sohag university

• Doaa Gaber Abdelbaset · Faculty of Medicine , Sohag university

Eligibility

Min Age

1 Year

Max Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-09-20

Primary Completion

2026-11-20

Completion

2027-08-20

Countries

• Egypt

Study Locations