Tinea pedis in Korean children

Background Tinea pedis is an infrequent disease in children before the age of puberty. There are few epidemiologic and clinical data regarding cases o f tinea pedis observed in children. Materials and methods We prospectively collected all cases of tinea pedis i n children diagnosed during the years 1995-1997. Only those showing a posit ive result with potassium hydroxide preparation were included in the study. We performed fungal cultures in Sabouraud's agar in all cases to document the etiologic fungi. The clinical characteristics were investigated. Results A total of 21 children, aged 3 months to 14 years, were included. F ifteen patients were boys and six were girls. The mean age was 7.1 years. A ll the children were otherwise healthy. Prior to the establishment of the d iagnosis of tinea pedis, 17 patients (80.9%) were treated for eczema withou t improvement. The intertriginous type was most common (53.3%). The first o r second toe-webs were the sites of predilection (32.3%). Eighteen children (86%) had a family history of tinea pedis and more than half of cases (52. 4%) showed occurrence in the summer. The results of fungal cultures were po sitive in 13 patients (57%). Trichophyton rubrum was the most commonly isol ated pathogen (69.2%). The other associated dermatoses were onychomycosis ( 33.3%), atopic dermatitis (14%), plantar warts (10%), and chronic urticaria (5%). Tinea pedis and onychomycosis cleared after treatment with topical a ntifungals with or without systemic antifungals in all cases. Conclusions Tinea pedis in children can occur more frequently than suspecte d. Our study shows the strong association with a family history and the sea sonal relationship with occurrence in summer in more than half of cases. We suggest that tinea pedis should be considered in the differential diagnosi s of foot dermatitis in children.