Intra-familial transmission of Trichophyton tonsurans

Trichophyton(T.) tonsurans was an anthropophilic dermatophyte and has not been prevalent in Korea yet. Especially the infection of non-athletic patient was very rare and only 7 cases have been reported so far in Korea. We report 1 case of tinea capitis and 2 cases of tinea faciei due to T. tonsurans in a family, i.e grandfather, grandmother and grandson. Grand father and grand mother had pruritic scaly erythematous macule on their face and grandson had a 10×10 cm sized alopecia with black dots on the scalp. We confirmed T. tonsurans in all cases based on the microscopic findings and fungal culture. Although we could not confirm the source and the exact transmission route, these patients are not athletes and none of them had contact history with any athletes. So we think that T. tonsurns might have been already spreading among general population of Korea.