Background: Tinea pedis is an infrequent disease in children before the age of puberty. There are few epidemiologic and clinical data regarding cases of tinea pedis observed in children. Materials and methods We prospectively collected all cases of tinea pedis in children diagnosed during the years 1995-1997. Only those showing a positive 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. Fifteen patients were boys and six were girls. The mean age was 7.1 years. All the children were otherwise healthy. Prior to the establishment of the diagnosis of tinea pedis, 17 patients (80.9%) were treated for eczema without improvement. The intertriginous type was most common (53.3%). The first or 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 positive in 13 patients (57%). Trichophyton rubrum was the most commonly isolated 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 antifungals with or without systemic antifungals in all cases.
Conclusions: Tinea pedis in children can occur more frequently than suspected. Our study shows the strong association with a family history and the seasonal relationship with occurrence in summer in more than half of cases. We suggest that tinea pedis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of foot dermatitis in children.