This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Other Versions of this Article: JCM.02033-06v1 45/2/461    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Magill, S. S. Articles by Merz, W. G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Magill, S. S. Articles by Merz, W. G.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, February 2007, p. 461-465, Vol. 45, No. 2
0095-1137/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.02033-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Isolation of Trichophyton violaceum and Trichophyton soudanense in Baltimore, Maryland

Departments of Medicine,¹ Pathology,² Dermatology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine,³ Baltimore Medical System, Baltimore, Maryland⁴

Received 2 October 2006/ Returned for modification 8 November 2006/ Accepted 22 November 2006

Tinea capitis is of public health importance because of its transmissibility. Trichophyton violaceum and Trichophyton soudanense, which are common causes of tinea capitis in parts of Africa and West Asia, have only rarely been reported to cause dermatophytoses in the United States. We identified 24 patients with 25 positive cultures for T. violaceum or T. soudanense that were processed in a single hospital laboratory in Baltimore, Maryland, between 1 January 2000 and 30 June 2006. Most patients for whom clinical information was available had tinea capitis. There was a marked increase in the isolation of these organisms between the period from 2000 to 2002 and the period from 2003 to 2006, possibly associated with changes in immigration to the Baltimore metropolitan area. The changing epidemiology of this transmissible fungal infection not only is of public health interest as an example of the introduction of a "new" pathogen to an area where it traditionally was not endemic but also is of clinical and microbiological importance given reports suggesting an increasing incidence of tinea capitis in some areas and increasing clinical failure rates of current therapies.

Published ahead of print on 6 December 2006.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Li, H. C., Bouchara, J.-P., Hsu, M. M.-L., Barton, R., Chang, T. C. (2007). Identification of Dermatophytes by an Oligonucleotide Array. J. Clin. Microbiol. 45: 3160-3166 [Abstract] [Full Text]