[Trichophyton soudanense as the pathogen of tinea corporis et capitis]

Tinea capitis and corporis caused by Trichophyton soudanense were identified in a 6-year-old coloured boy who was born in Zaire and had been living for 3 years in Germany. This dermatophyte is very rarely seen outside the region in Africa where it is endemic. The disease is frequently overlooked at diagnosis because of the pathogen's capacity for causing chronic and oligosymptomatic infections. In our case the tinea did not a become apparent until the patient had been in Germany for 3 years. No-one else in his family had any comparable scalp or skin lesions. Consistent therapy with itraconazole (Sempera) dosed at 3 mg/kg body weight per day over a period of 4 weeks led to a permanent cure.