title: Trichophyton tonsurans scalp carriage among wrestlers in a national competition in Turkey.
abstract: Trichophyton tonsurans tinea gladiatorum is an emerging epidemic among combat-sport athletes across the globe. In the present study, we investigated the prevalence of symptomatic and asymptomatic dermatophytic infections among wrestlers in the National Greco-Roman Championship in Turkey. In total, 194 wrestlers from 32 provinces and 72 clubs were examined for scalp, trunk, groin, and toe web dermatophytic infections. We also administered a questionnaire to obtain information on the participants' lifestyles, wrestling characteristics, and risk factors for dermatophytic infections. The hairbrush method was used for scalp and trunk sampling, whereas a cotton swab was used for groin, toe web, and mat sampling. Three wrestling mats in the gymnasium were surveyed for dermatophytes using the touch preparation method. A total of 17 (8.8%) wrestlers harbored dermatophytes, and 22 strains were isolated: 13 (59.1%) T. tonsurans and 9 (40.9%) T. rubrum. These isolates were found on the scalp (8), trunk (2), forearm (1), hand (1), groin (3), and feet (7). In addition, we recovered 8 dermatophyte strains from the 150 mat samples (5.3%): T. rubrum in 6 samples (75%) and T. tonsurans in two samples (25%). T. tonsurans was only recovered from 11 out of 194 (5.7%) wrestlers. Scalp carriage represents the predominant (72.7%) clinical picture of a T. tonsurans infection in these Greco-Roman wrestlers in Turkey.
authors.affiliation: Division of Mycology, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Çukurova, Adana, Turkey. milkit@cu.edu.tr
authors.forename: Macit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ilkit
authors.forename: Ramazan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gümral
authors.forename: Mehmet Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Saraçlı
authors.forename: Refik
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Burgut
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012535:Scalp / Q000382:microbiology*; D014249:Trichophyton / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult