Ringworm of the scalp (tinea capitis) is one of several forms of ringworm, a type of fungal infection that affects the skin, nails and scalp.
Although unsightly, ringworm usually is not serious, but it can be persistent and difficult to treat. Ringworm treatment includes antifungal medication, medicated shampoo and ideally a medicated, disinfectant laundry product such as ERADICIL, since ringworm can be passed on to others even during treatment phases and can be re-caught from infected bed linen and towels.
How common is it?
Scalp ringworm, or tinea capitis, largely disappeared in Great Britain after oral griseofulvin was introduced in the late 1950s. Over the past few years, however, dermatology departments in London, Bristol, and Birmingham have seen a large increase in cases, with rates of positive scalp isolates up to 20 times higher than previous baseline rates.1,2,3 A community point prevalence study from London suggested a disease prevalence of about 2.5% with a carriage rate of between 12% and 47% among schoolchildren.
What causes it?
It appears that ringworm is usually caused by the Trichophyton and Microsporum species of fungi. It can be caught from infected individuals and also infections of animal origin.4
What’s the outcome?
Continuous shedding of fungal spores may last several months even with active treatment, but keeping children with tinea capitis out of school is impractical. The treatments are very effective but nevertheless, treatment failure can occur because of:
- Re-infection (possibly through infected laundry)
- Relative insensitivity of the organism
- Poor absorption of the medication
- Poor compliance (long courses of treatment tend to be very long)
In persistent positive cases, when fungi can still be isolated at the completion of treatment despite improvement in the symptoms, the recommendation is to continue the treatment for another month.
Treatment
Medications approved for treating ringworm of the scalp include griseofulvin, which is taken by mouth as a liquid or tablet, and terbinafine, an oral granule medication that can be sprinkled on food. These medications may need to be taken for up to six weeks. Topical products are not as effective because they are less able to penetrate the scalp and hair. The use of ERADICIL could ensure that skin infection cannot be carried in shared laundry to re-infect the child or cross-infect others who share the laundry facility or towels, bed linen etc.
1 Leeming JG, Elliott TSJ. The emergence of Trichophyton tonsurans tinea capitis in Birmingham, UK. Br J Dermatol. 1995;133:929–931.
2 Fuller LC, Child FC, Higgins EM. Tinea capitis in south east London: an outbreak of Trichophyton tonsurans infection. Br J Dermatol. 1997;136:139.
3 Buckley DM, Moss C, Austin G, Armer J, Leeming JG. Trichophyton tonsurans infection in Birmingham. Br J Dermatol. 1996;135(suppl 47):21
4 Caprilli F et al. Etiology of ringworm of the scalp, beard and body. Sabouraudia. 1980 Jun;18(2):129-35.