Objective: To describe the epidemiological, clinical, and paraclinical characteristics of dermatophyte tinea capitis at the National Hospital of Dermatology and Venereology from December 2024 to July 2025.
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study included 141 patients with confirmed tinea capitis based on typical clinical features and direct microscopy with 20% KOH. Epidemiological, clinical, and microscopic data were collected for all patients; culture for dermatophyte identification was performed on 67 samples. Descriptive analyses were conducted using SPSS 20 and Stata 17.
Results: Children aged 4–7 years accounted for 51.06%, and 75.89% lived in rural areas. Scaling (75.18%) and hair breakage/loss (74.47%) were common, and 75.89% had scattered lesions. Fungal spores were detected by direct microscopy in 68.09%. Of 67 cultured samples, 45 (67.16%) were positive; using 67 as the denominator, Trichophyton accounted for 41.79% (T. tonsurans 35.82%) and Microsporum for 25.37%. Among cases, 54.61% reported animal contact and 56.74% reported leaving hair damp after washing.
Conclusion: This descriptive study found that most patients were children, with scaling, hair breakage/loss, and scattered lesions commonly observed; Trichophyton, particularly T. tonsurans, was the most frequent cultured agent. Rural residence, animal contact, and leaving hair damp were descriptive characteristics of the case series and should not be interpreted as risk factors because no comparison group was included.