Paediatric Tinea Capitis in New Zealand: A Case Series

We reviewed 41 children referred to a New Zealand regional dermatology service between 2016 and 2026 with scalp alopecia suspected to be tinea capitis. Microsporum canis accounted for 17 of the 24 dermatophytes isolated (71%), a distribution consistent with New Zealand series over the past seven decades and unlike the shift towards anthropophilic Trichophyton reported from North America and the United Kingdom. A scalp scraping had been taken before referral in only 14 of the 41 children (34%). The species was never established in 16 children. Most were treated with an oral antifungal (31 of 41), itraconazole most often.