title: [Emergence of Microsporum audouinii and Trichophyton tonsurans as causative organisms of tinea capitis in the Dominican Republic].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tinea capitis affects mainly children. The frequency and causative organism vary from region to region.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To provide epidemiological and mycological data on tinea capitis collected in urban and rural areas of the Dominican Republic.
  
  
  METHODS
  Samples were obtained from 118 patients with tinea capitis. Sixty-three of these were from 2 schools in urban areas of the Dominican capital Santo Domingo (53%) and 55 were from rural schools on the border with Haiti (47%).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study included 84 boys (71. 18%) and 34 girls (28. 81%). The urban sample comprised mainly boys (84. 12%). The most represented age ranges were 6 to 8 years (47. 45%), 3 to 5 years (24. 59%), and 9 to 11 years (16. 94%). Microsporum audouinii (39. 68%), Trichophyton tonsurans (23. 80%), Microsporum canis (19. 04%), and Trichophyton violaceum (1. 58%) were isolated from children in urban areas, whereas T. tonsurans (87%) and Trichophyton mentagrophytes (2%) were isolated from those in rural areas. Overall, T. tonsurans (61. 16%), M. audouinii (24. 27%), and M canis (11. 65%) were the most frequently isolated causative organisms, whereas T. violaceum and T. mentagrophytes were rarely reported.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In urban areas of the Dominican Republic, tinea capitis was found mainly in boys, but in rural areas it was evenly distributed among boys and girls. The emergence of M. audouinii and an increase in T. tonsurans were found while M. canis continued to be present at lower frequencies. On the rural border with Haiti, there was a significant predominance of T. tonsurans.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Dermatología, Hospital General Dr. Manuel Gea González, México. rarenas98@hotmail.com <rarenas98@hotmail.com>
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arenas
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amaya
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Rivera
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Espinal
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Polanco
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Isa-Isa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004293:Dominican Republic / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008864:Microsporum; D012423:Rural Health; D014005:Tinea / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D014504:Urban Health