title: Tinea manuum due to Trichophyton erinacei from Tunisia.
abstract: Trichophyton erinacei is a zoonotic fungus affecting hedgehogs. Although several human infections with this organism have been documented in the literature, it has rarely been isolated as a human pathogen. This paper reports on an erythematous lesion spotted on the hand of a 10-year-old girl. Based on the culture of the patient's skin scrapings, the pathogen was mycologically identified as T. erinacei, which was further confirmed by sequencing the internal transcribed spacers of the fungal nuclear ribosomal DNA using universal primer ITS1-ITS4. This is the first case of T. erinacei in a Tunisian patient. A survey was carried out on the environment of our patient, and the results revealed the presence of hedgehogs with suspect scaly lesions. The same fungus was isolated from the hair and scales of the hedgehog, which was confirmed by PCR sequencing. The frequency of T. erinacei has often been underestimated, which is attributed not only to the gaps of knowledge still existing in the current understanding of the dermatophyte but also to differential diagnosis problems. Molecular study offers a simple and rapid tool to identify the source of infection and, hence, avoid the risk of recurrence.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of fungal and parasitic molecular biology, school of medicine, university of Sfax, Magida-Boulila street, 3029 Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Drira
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of parasitology-mycology, UH Habib Bourguiba, 3000 Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Neji
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of fungal and parasitic molecular biology, school of medicine, university of Sfax, Magida-Boulila street, 3029 Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hadrich
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of fungal and parasitic molecular biology, school of medicine, university of Sfax, Magida-Boulila street, 3029 Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sellami
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of parasitology-mycology, UH Habib Bourguiba, 3000 Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Makni
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of fungal and parasitic molecular biology, school of medicine, university of Sfax, Magida-Boulila street, 3029 Sfax, Tunisia; Laboratory of parasitology-mycology, UH Habib Bourguiba, 3000 Sfax, Tunisia. Electronic address: ali.ayadi@rns.tn.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ayadi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006229:Hand Dermatoses / Q000382:microbiology*; D006364:Hedgehogs / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D014005:Tinea / Q000382:microbiology*; D014249:Trichophyton / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014416:Tunisia; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000382:microbiology
keywords: ADNr; Dermatophytie circiné; Erythematous lesion; Lésion érythémateuse; RDNA; Tinea manuum; TmF-TmR; Trichophyton erinacei