Tinea superficialis capitis due to Trichophyton soudanense in African immigrants

Trichophyton soudanense is a common cause of tinea capitis in north-western tropical Africa. In European countries, infection seems to occur nearly exclusively in African immigrants and not in the indigenous population. From 1986 to 1995 we obtained 7908 fungal cultures from patients undergoing treatment at the department of Dermatology in Aachen, Germany. During this period we observed eight cases of tinea capitis by T. soudanense in African immigrants aged 2-11 years. One African immigrant suffered from tinea pedis and one German patient demonstrated tinea corporis attributed to T. soudanense. All cases responded well to local antimycotics in combination with systemic griseofulvin.