RT Book, Section A1 Weinberg, Samuel A1 Prose, Neil S. A1 Kristal, Leonard SR Print(0) ID 6987408 T1 Section 6. Fungal Infections T2 Color Atlas of Pediatric Dermatology, 4e YR 2008 FD 2008 PB The McGraw-Hill Companies PP New York, NY SN 978-0-07-145543-5 LK accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=6987408 RD 2024/03/28 AB Fungal infections of the scalp are extremely common in children. The diagnosis of tinea capitis should be entertained in any child in whom patches of incomplete alopecia, crusting, or scaling are found in the scalp. In previous decades, Microsporum canis and M. audouinii were the most common pathogenic fungi infecting the scalp. The latter frequently causes a discrete grayish patch of hair loss (Fig. 6-1). In most parts of the United States and in many other parts of the world, Trichophyton tonsurans is now the predominant organism causing tinea capitis. In the United States, this form of tinea capitis is seen almost exclusively in African American children. In some children, this dermatophyte causes discrete and dramatic areas of hair loss studded by the stubs of broken hairs, the so-called black-dot ringworm (Fig. 6-2). In others, there are only small and unimpressive patches of “seborrheic” scale with minimal hair loss or groups of small pustules.