Kerion-like tinea capitis and barbae caused by Microsporum gypseum in Israel.

Four cases of hair invasion by Microsporum gypseum are reported. In three the scalp was involved and in one, the beard. All presented a kerion type of invasion. In 3 cases hair penetration was of the ectothrix type, while in one case the kerion of the scalp resembled the type of invasion seen in T. schonleini infection. None of the invaded hairs showed fluorescence in Wood's light. The soil was the source of infection in 3 patients, the fungus having been isolated from soil samples collected in the vicinity of the houses of these patients through the hair bait method. In one case the source of contamination was the family dog, in which scaly, alopecic, follicularlike lesions caused by the same agent were found.