Outbreak of Trichophyton soudanense causing tinea capitis in an orphanage in Myanmar.

We report an outbreak of Trichophyton soudanense causing tinea capitis and corporis in an orphanage in Myanmar. The thirty orphan children were suspected to have anthropophilic tinea but zoonotic tinea could not be excluded as all children were playing with stray dogs. Direct mycological examinations of hair and scalp samples showed filaments but culture assays remained sterile. We revealed T. soudanense as the infectious agent by PCR amplification of extracted fungal DNA and further sequencing of the PCR products. Children were successfully treated by terbinafine and reinfection was prevented by hygiene measures. This case report shed the light on T. soudanense infection on another continent than Africa and on the significant help of PCR identification.