{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,30]],"date-time":"2025-07-30T15:48:33Z","timestamp":1753890513226,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,23]],"date-time":"2025-06-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1750636800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p>Tinea capitis, a chronic inflammatory disease of the scalp and hair shafts caused by dermatophyte infections, \u200bmanifests clinically\u200b as erythematous lesions, scaling, alopecia, and pustule formation. Hainan, a tropical island province in China, exhibits distinctive climatic conditions and demographic contact patterns that \u200bcould shape\u200b its pathogen spectrum. However, comprehensive epidemiological data \u200bremain scarce. This study \u200banalyzes\u200b the epidemiological characteristics and pathogen spectrum of tinea capitis in Hainan, China.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study \u200bwas undertaken\u200b across 11 coastal and inland dermatological centers in Hainan Province (January 2023 to December 2024). A total of 76 tinea capitis patients \u200bdiagnosed\u200b via mycological examination (fungal fluorescence microscopy, fungal culture with species identification) \u200band corroborated\u200b by dermatoscopic evaluation \u200bwere consecutively enrolled. Data on demographic characteristics, exposure history, and clinical manifestations \u200bwere systematically collated\u200b using standardized case report forms. Pathogen subtyping \u200bwas performed via\u200b integrated morphological identification \u200bsupplemented by\u200b molecular biological analysis of the ITS region.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Among 76 enrolled patients, minors (\u226415 years) \u200baccounted for\u200b 80.26% (61\/76), with \u226410-year-olds \u200brepresenting\u200b 91.8% (56\/61) of pediatric cases. The overall male-to-female ratio \u200bwas recorded as\u200b 1:1.05 (37 males vs. 39 females), while pediatric patients (\u226415 years) \u200bexhibited\u200b a 1.07:1 ratio (31 males vs. 29 females). Animal contact history \u200bwas reported in\u200b 31 cases (40.79%), scalp trauma in 3 cases (3.95%), and co-occurring superficial fungal infections in 12 cases (15.79%). \u200bFungal elements were detected\u200b via direct microscopic examination in 64 cases (84.21%). Fungal cultures \u200bobtained\u200b 45 positive isolates (19 strains in 2023, 26 in 2024), with kerion (inflammatory tinea capitis) \u200bexhibiting\u200b the highest culture positivity rate, followed by tinea alba. \u200bThe primary pathogens identified\u200b were zoophilic <jats:italic>Microsporum canis (M<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>canis<\/jats:italic>) (20 cases, 43.79%) and anthropophilic <jats:italic>Trichophyton rubrum (T. rubrum<\/jats:italic>) (9 strains, 19.57%). Clinical manifestations \u200bcomprised\u200b kerion (44 cases, 57.89%), tinea alba (27 cases, 35.53%), and black dot tinea (5 cases, 6.58%). Kerion cases \u200bwere predominantly linked to\u200b <jats:italic>M. canis and T. mentagrophytes<\/jats:italic> (interdigital subtype), whereas tinea alba \u200bdemonstrated\u200b infections by <jats:italic>M. canis and T. rubrum<\/jats:italic>. Black dot lesions \u200bwere additionally observed\u200b in <jats:italic>M. canis<\/jats:italic> infections.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The primary affected group is children \u226410 years old, with the most common pathogenic fungus being zoophilic <jats:italic>M. canis<\/jats:italic>, and clinical classification is predominantly kerion. Dermatologists should pay attention to different transmission routes and pathogen spectra.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2025.1590315","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,23]],"date-time":"2025-06-23T04:13:06Z","timestamp":1750651986000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Tinea capitis in Hainan: a prospective study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Wenai","family":"Zheng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Feng","family":"Qiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xianxu","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiaozheng","family":"Tang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Changyan","family":"Lin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Qin","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zhaobing","family":"Pan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rongqiang","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"S72","DOI":"10.21101\/cejph.a5279","article-title":"Epidemiological and clinical aspects of dermatophytoses in Eastern Slovakia: a retrospective three-year study","volume":"26","author":"Baranov\u00e1","year":"2018","journal-title":"Cent. 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