How countryside stay led to a little boy losing his hair

A little boy has had his unexpected hair loss blamed on a countryside stay after consulting with doctors.

The six-year-old from China presented at a dermatology clinic after suffering a rash on his face and scalp for three months resulting in hair loss, according to the case in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Doctors noticed redness on his scalp and face “as well as patches of alopecia”.

“Areas of bright green fluorescence were observed on his scalp during a 'Wood’s lamp examination',” researchers wrote.

Wood’s lamp examinations utilise black light to examine the hair and skin.

Doctors prepared a sample of the boy’s hair and found hyphae, a type of fungus, which indicated an ectothrix infection. The infection is when spores cover the shaft of the hair follicle.

Macroconidia, another type of fungus, was also found. It is often transferred from animals.

“The patient’s parents reported no pets at home but mentioned the patient may have had exposure to animals while staying in the countryside several months earlier,” researchers wrote.

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He was prescribed terbinafine to treat the fungal infection.

After six weeks, the lesions on his scalp had healed and at three and six months after the therapy parents said the rash had not appeared again.

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