Tinea capitis in children from Goiânia, Brazil

During the period January 1999 to July 2002 a total de 164 cases of Tinea capitis were diagnosed by mycological examination in Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública of the Universidade Federal de Goiás. Of the 164 patients 94 (57.3%) were males, with an age of 3 months to 13 years. Laboratory studies were performed by direct examination with 20% KOH and cultivated on Mycobiotic agar medium and Sabouraud dextrose agar with chloramphenicol. The following species were identified: Microsporum canis (71.3%), Trichophyton tonsurans (11%), Trichophyton mentagrophytes (7.9%), Trichophyton rubrum (6.7%), and Microsporum gypseum (3%). Our study showed that the most frequent rise of scalp infection was a zoophylic fungi, called Microsporum canis.