Tinea capitis in infants less than 1 year of age.

Tinea capitis is the most frequent manifestation of dermatophyte infection in children, but because it is rare in the first months of life it is often misdiagnosed. Here we report 15 cases of tinea capitis observed in Italy in infants less than 1 year of age. There were 10 boys and 5 girls (mean age 6 months). Diagnosis was confirmed by mycologic examination. Microsporum canis was isolated in nine cases and Trichophyton mentagrophytes in three. These 12 infants were Italian and animals were the source of infection. Trichophyton erinacei was isolated in one Italian infant, and the source was soil. In the other two cases, Trichophyton tonsurans and Trichophyton violaceum were isolated; these infants were from Central America and India, respectively, and had contracted the infection from humans. All achieved clinical and mycologic recovery after systemic and topical antimycotic therapy.