A Cross Sectional Observational Study of Pediatric Dermatophytosis: Changing Clinico Mycological Patterns in Western India

Introduction: The last few years have seen a significant rise in the incidence of dermatophytosis across India. Vulnerability of children to this disease is more than adults due to multiple factors. However, limited data are available regarding clinical and mycological variants of dermatophytosis in children. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was designed at the dermatology outpatient department in Mumbai. The aim of the study was to assess the clinical profile and identify the causative fungal species in pediatric dermatophytosis. Sixty-seven children below 14 years of age with a clinical diagnosis of dermatophytosis were included by the simple random sampling method. A detailed history (duration of lesions, topical creams used, similar lesions in contacts, contact with pets, and other comorbidities/comedications) was taken and clinical examination (sites of involvement, number of lesions, associated erythema/scaling, morphology, and extent of lesions) was done followed by fungal mount preparation (potassium hydroxide (KOH) and KOH with Chicago Sky Blue stain) and culture of the scrapings on Sabouraud's agar medium containing chloramphenicol and cycloheximide. Microsoft Excel and SPSS-20 software were used to analyze the data. Results: A total of 42 male and 25 female children (mean age - 6.2 years) were included in the study. Prior topical applications of steroids +/- antifungal combinations were used in 57 cases (85%) before presenting to the dermatologist. About 76.12% (n = 51) of cases had positive family/contact history. Thirty-five children (52.2 %) had extensive disease. Multiple atypical clinical patterns were observed: tinea incognito, irregular geographic plaque, tinea. recidivans, tinea pseudo-imbricata, penile tinea, and annular plaques on scalp. Trichophyton mentagrophytes complex was the most common isolate from cultures grown from scrapings, in 14/19 cases (73.7%). Conclusion: This clinico-mycological study highlights the changing clinical patterns (including Tinea pseudoimbricata, geographically patterned plaques) and shift in the etiological agent in childhood dermatophytosis. The study brings into focus the increasing proportion of T. mentagrophytes, high percentages of topical steroid abuse by parents in children, and positive family/close-contact history in children.