Epidemiological and Molecular Analysis of Scalp Ringworm in France With Antifungal Susceptibility Testing: A Multicenter Prospective Study

Ringworm of the scalp or tinea capitis (TC) is the most common fungal infection in children. Few data are currently available in France concerning these infections, either on the distribution of the causative dermatophytes species or on the response to treatment. In addition, following the sudden cessation of the marketing of griseofulvin in March 2021, the only treatment with Marketing Authorization in France in children, the new recommendations recommend oral terbinafine or itraconazole. Yet, resistance of dermatophytes to terbinafine has appeared in France for a few years with recently reported cases of recalcitrant cutaneous dermatophytosis due to Trichophyton spp. imported from the Indian subcontinent. Moreover, the morphological identification of dermatophyte species is not always easy in routine practice, in particular within the T. interdigitale/mentagrophyytes/indotineae and Trichophyton rubrum/soudanense/violaceum complexes, the latter being frequently responsible for TC.

This study therefore aims to describe the epidemiology of TC in France from a clinical point of view, the responsible species and the response to treatment since the recent modification of therapeutic recommendations. To do this, a collection of data and isolates of dermatophytes responsible for TC in 11 French centers will be carried out during the year 2023. Then an epidemiological-molecular analysis of the isolates will be carried out as well as the determination of their sensitivity to antifungals searching for an acquired resistance.