Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Scalp Dermatophyte Carriage in Pregnant, Pre-, and Postmenopausal Women: A Comparative Study Using the Hairbrush and Cytobrush Methods of Sample Collection

  • Published:
Mycopathologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Tinea capitis is a dermatophyte infection of the scalp that is most often seen in prepubescent children. In this investigation, we examined the prevalence of tinea capitis and symptom-free colonization of the scalp with dermatophytes in 786 pre- and postmenopausal women aged 12–84 years. Scalp samples were collected from all participants by cytobrush or hairbrush, and cultures were then grown from these samples on Sabouraud glucose agar. No participant was diagnosed with tinea capitis; however, one 43-year-old patient (0.1%) was positive for a “scalp carriage” related to anthropophilic Trichophyton rubrum, as detected using a hairbrush. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of the isolate were sequenced, and the assembled DNA sequences were examined using the basic BLAST (nucleotide–nucleotide) software of the National Center for Biotechnology Information Web database. This patient was followed up without any antimycotic treatment, and after 4 weeks, mycological clearance was documented. In addition, the contacts and environment at home were screened, where all fungal cultures were sterile. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first report of a “scalp carriage” related to a cosmopolitan fungus, T. rubrum.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Gupta AK, Summerbell RC. Tinea capitis. Med Mycol. 2000;38:255–87.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Buckley DA, Fuller LC, Higgins EM, du Vivier AWP. Tinea capitis in adults. BMJ. 2000;320:1389–90.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Cremer G, Bournerias I, Vandemeleubroucke E, Houin R, Revuz J. Tinea capitis in adults: misdiagnosis or reappearance? Dermatology. 1997;194:8–11.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Romano C. Tinea capitis in Siena, Italy: an 18-year survey. Mycoses. 1999;42:559–62.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Babel DE, Baughman SA. Evaluation of the adult carrier state in juvenile tinea capitis caused by Trichophyton tonsurans. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1989;21:1209–12.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Vargo K, Cohen BA. Prevalence of undetected tinea capitis in household members of children with disease. Pediatrics. 1993;92:155–7.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Pomeranz AJ, Sabnis SS, Mc Grath JJ, Esterly NB. Asymptomatic dermatophyte carriers in the households of children with tinea capitis. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1999;153:483–6.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. White JM, Higgins EM, Fuller LC, et al. Screening for asymptomatic carriage of Trichophyton tonsurans in household contacts of patients with tinea capitis: results of 209 patients from South London. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2007;21:1061–4.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Akbaba M, Ilkit M, Sutoluk Z, Ates A, Zorba H. Comparison of hairbrush, toothbrush, and cotton swab methods for diagnosing asymptomatic dermatophyte scalp carriage. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2008;22:356–62.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Gianni C, Betti R, Perotta E, Crosti C. Tinea capitis in adults. Mycoses. 1995;38:329–31.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Barlow D, Saxe N. Tinea capitis in adults. Int J Dermatol. 1988;27:388–90.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Fuller LC. Changing face of tinea capitis in Europe. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2009;22:115–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Devliotou-Panagliotidou D, Koussidou-Eremondi T, Chaidemenos GC, Theodoridou M, Minas A. Tinea capitis in adults during 1981–95 in Northern Greece. Mycoses. 2001;44:398–400.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Kurdak H, Sezer T, Ilkit M, Ates A, Bozdemir N. Survey of scalp dermatophyte carriage in a day care center in Turkey. Mycopathologia. 2009;167:139–44.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Ilkit M, Saraclı MA, Kurdak H, et al. Clonal outbreak of Trichophyton tonsurans tinea capitis gladiatorum among wrestlers in Adana, Turkey. Med Mycol. 2010;48:480–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Ilkit M, Demirhindi H, Yetgin M, et al. Asymptomatic scalp dermatophyte carriage in school children in Adana, Turkey. Mycoses. 2007;50:130–4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Bonifaz A, Isa-Isa R, Araiza J, et al. Cytobrush culture method to diagnose tinea capitis. Mycopathologia. 2007;169:309–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Ilkit M, Demirhindi H. Asymptomatic dermatophyte scalp carriage: laboratory diagnosis, epidemiology, and management. Mycopathologia. 2008;165:61–71.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Turin L, Riva F, Galbiati G, Cainelli T. Fast, simple and highly sensitive double-rounded polymerase chain reaction assay to detect medically relevant fungi in dermatological specimens. Eur J Clin Invest. 2000;30:511–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Hall TA. BioEdit: a user-friendly biological sequence alignment editor and analysis program for windows 95/98 NT. Nucl Acids Symp Ser. 1999;41:95–8.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Pipkin JL. Tinea capitis in the adult and adolescent. AMA Arch Derm Syphilol. 1952;66:9–40.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Bergson CL, Fernandes NC. Tinea capitis: study of asymptomatic carriers and sick adolescents, adults and elderly who live with children with the disease. Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo. 2001;43:87–91.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Honig PJ. Tinea capitis: recommendations for school attendance. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 1999;18:211–4.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Sehgal VN, Saxena KN, Kumari S. Tinea capitis: a clinicoetiologic correlation. Int J Dermatol. 1985;24:116–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Schwinn A, Ebert J, Brocker EB. Frequency of Trichophyton rubrum in tinea capitis. Mycoses. 1995;38:1–7.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Anstey A, Lucke TW, Philpot C. Tinea capitis caused by Trichophyton rubrum. Br J Dermatol. 1996;135:113–5.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Khosravi AR, Aghamirian MR, Mahmoudi M. Dermatophytes in Iran. Mycoses. 1994;37:43–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Kanwar AJ, Belhaj MS. Tinea capitis in Benghazi, Libya. Int J Dermatol. 1987;26:371–3.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Price VH, Rosenthal SA, Villafane J. Black dot tinea capitis caused by Trichophyton rubrum. Arch Dermatol. 1963;87:487–8.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Ziemer A, Kohl K, Schröder G. Trichophyton rubrum-induced inflammatory tinea capitis in a 63-year-old man. Mycoses. 2005;48:76–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Zhu M, Li L, Wang J, et al. Tinea capitis in southeastern China: a 16-year survey. Mycopathologia. 2010;169:235–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Chang SE, Kang SK, Choi JH, et al. Tinea capitis due to Trichophyton rubrum in a neonate. Pediatr Dermatol. 2002;19:356–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Bargman H. Trichophyton rubrum tinea capitis in a 85-year-old woman. J Cutan Med Surg. 2000;4:153–4.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Ungar L, Laude TA. Tinea capitis in a newborn caused by two organisms. Pediatr Dermatol. 1997;14:229–30.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Research Fund of Cukurova University (Project No: TF2010BAP14). We gratefully acknowledge Prof Dr G. Sybren de Hoog’s (Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures, Utrecht, The Netherlands) kind cooperation and confirmation of the isolate examined in this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cukurova, Adana, Turkey

    Levent Toksöz, Ahmet Barış Güzel & Tuba Akar

  2. Division of Mycology, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cukurova, 01330, Adana, Turkey

    Macit Ilkit

  3. Department of Microbiology, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey

    Mehmet Ali Saraçlı

Authors
  1. Levent Toksöz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ahmet Barış Güzel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Macit Ilkit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Tuba Akar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Mehmet Ali Saraçlı
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Macit Ilkit.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Toksöz, L., Güzel, A.B., Ilkit, M. et al. Scalp Dermatophyte Carriage in Pregnant, Pre-, and Postmenopausal Women: A Comparative Study Using the Hairbrush and Cytobrush Methods of Sample Collection. Mycopathologia 171, 339–344 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-010-9377-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-010-9377-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation