Five cases of dermatophytosis in man caused by zoophilic species Trichophyton erinacei, transmitted from hedgehogs

We report five cases of tinea faciei and tinea corporis in four young women and a boy, caused by zoophilic species Trichophyton erinacei. All patients kept hedgehogs (Atelerix albiventris) at home and they consistently stated that animals did not show any visible signs of the infection. These are the first cases in the Czech Republic described in detail. Facial lesion of the 1st patient was treated with ciclopiroxolamine at the beginning with a visible regression and subsequently, the therapy was supplemented with systemic terbinafine. In total, three patients presented with lesions on the forearm, two of them were successfully treated by systemic terbinafine and local ciclopiroxolamine, respectively; information about the remaining case are incomplete. Fifth patient was initially treated by combination of local ciclopiroxolamine and acidum fusidicum; because of the relaps of the infection, the theratapy was changed to econazol cream with good clinical effect. Trichophyton erinacei is a rare cause of human dermaphytosis, usually in connection with contact of the patient with a hedgehog. Due to the morphological similarity with the T. interdigitale, these strains can be easily confused in the laboratory. This may lead to the misidentification of the infection source and its further spread. Verification of identification using molecular methods, such as the sequencing of ITS rDNA used in this work, is therefore highly desirable.