Analysis of pathogenic dermatophytes from patients with tinea capitis in a hospital in Hangzhou

Objective To analysis changes in species distribution of pathogenic dermatophytes from patients with tinea capitis in the Hangzhou Third Hospital between 2015 and 2017. Methods Demographic and mycological data were collected from 321 patients with confirmed tinea capitis in the Hangzhou Third Hospital between 2015 and 2017, and analyzed retrospectively. Results Of the 321 patients with tinea capitis, 180 were males, and 141 were females. Their age of onset ranged from 1 month to 70 years. There were 154 (47.9%) preschool children and 13 (4.0%) adults. A total of 321 fungal strains were isolated, including 159 (49.5%) strains of Microsporum canis, 110 (34.3%) strains of Trichophyton mentagrophytes, 38 (11.8%) strains of Trichophyton violaceum, 8 (2.5%) strains of Trichophyton tonsurans, 4 (1.2%) strains of Microsporum gypseum, and 2 (0.6%) strains of Trichophyton rubrum. There was no significant difference in the distribution of fungal species (χ2 = 9.09, P > 0.05) or the proportion of anthropophilic and non-anthropophilic dermatophytes among different age groups (χ2 = 1.85, P > 0.05) . The proportion of non-anthropophilic dermatophytes significantly differed among 2015, 2016 and 2017 (χ2 = 23.82, P < 0.01) . From 2015 to 2017, the proportions of Microsporum canis were 32.5%, 47.6% and 59.6% respectively, and the proportions of Trichophyton mentagrophytes were 53.0%, 35.4% and 23.7% respectively. Conclusions During 2015 - 2017, the main population with tinea capitis in Hangzhou Third Hospital was preschool children. Moreover, the main pathogenic dermatophyte was Microsporum canis, whose proportion gradually increased year by year, followed by Trichophyton mentagrophytes, whose proportion gradually decreased year by year. Key words: Tinea capitis; Microsporum; Trichophyton; Microsporum canis; Trichophyton mentagrophytes