NYC is home to the first known cases of antifungal-resistant ringworm in the US, according to a report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ringworm is a highly contagious infection of the skin, hair or nails typically treated with antifungal medications. This particular treatment-resistant strain emerged in South Asia.
Two NYC women with no known links reported experiencing symptoms in 2021 and 2022.
One of the patients, an unidentified 28-year-old woman in her third trimester of pregnancy, had not traveled internationally, nor come in contact with anyone who had a similar rash, suggesting there is some community spread of this infection in America.
According to the CDC, the woman visited her dermatologist in December 2021 after developing the rash that summer.
Medical professionals noted “large, annular, scaly, pruritic plaques over the neck, abdomen, pubic region, and buttocks.”
The woman began taking terbinafine tablets (Lamisil is one brand) in January 2022 after the birth of her baby.
When her condition did not improve after two weeks, she started on itraconazole, medication used to treat infections caused by fungus.
The CDC reports the patient saw the rash “resolved completely” after completing a four-week course of itraconazole. The woman is being monitored for potential recurrence of infection.
The other patient, a 47-year-old woman, developed the rash while in Bangladesh in the summer of 2022. Several of her family members in the country reported similar rashes.
The woman was given topical antifungal and steroid creams by doctors in Bangladesh, but these did not seem to help.
After returning to the US, the woman reportedly went to the emergency room three times during the fall of 2022. Doctors gave her several creams — with no improvement.
In December, dermatologists discovered her rash was on her thighs and buttocks.
Her symptoms did not improve after four weeks of oral terbinafine.
Her condition finally improved about 80% after four weeks of griseofulvin, a medication often used to treat athlete’s foot and “jock itch” as well as ringworm.
Doctors are exploring other treatment options, as the woman’s son and husband are reportedly dealing with similar infections.
Cases of this type of ringworm initially appeared in patients in South Asia, but have since been found in European countries.
The CDC is urging healthcare providers to educate patients on how to prevent the spread of ringworm. The agency also stressed the importance of not sharing clothes with someone who has a rash.
First drug-resistant ringworm cases discovered in US - New York Post
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