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The Renaissance
Published in Scott M. Jackson, Skin Disease and the History of Dermatology, 2023
Mercurialis addressed what he considered to be common diseases, achor and favus, described as two types of ulcerative scalp diseases that he classified as moist types, as opposed to the dry type of scalp ulcers that he terms tinea.71Achor and favus are characterized by an exudation of sticky humors. Achor has small openings from which a thin exudate oozes, while favus has larger openings and a thicker, honey-like exudate (favus, Latin for honeycomb). The former term is no longer used today but probably represented an infected form of scalp dermatitis, whereas favus now refers to a rare type of tinea capitis (scalp ringworm). According to Mercurialis, both conditions begin with itching, then swelling in response to scratching, and subsequent oozing. He preferred Galen's opinion that the cause of these scalp diseases was an “acrid, serous, erosive humor mixed with a thick one” and that tasting and touching the humor could aid in the diagnosis. If the humor tastes slightly bitter, the source is bile; if acid, phlegm or melancholy. If the ulcer feels warm, the disease is bilious, and if cold, phlegmatic.72Achor and favus of the child are treated primarily with topical remedies; for adults, bloodletting followed by purging and then the application of topical liniments (lotion) is the treatment protocol. For bloodletting, he recommended venesection of the frontal or postauricular veins if the condition is extensive as opposed to the more traditional use of the common ulnar vein.
Aetiology and Laboratory Diagnosis
Published in Raimo E Suhonen, Rodney P R Dawber, David H Ellis, Fungal Infections of the Skin, Hair and Nails, 2020
Raimo E Suhonen, Rodney P R Dawber, David H Ellis
Trichophyton schoenleinii is an anthropophilic fungus causing favus in humans. Favus is a chronic, scarring form of tinea capitis characterised by saucer-shaped crusted lesions or scutula and permanent hair loss. Invaded hairs remain intact and fluoresce a pale greenish-yellow under Wood’s ultraviolet light. Favus is common in Eurasia and Africa. Key features include clinical history, culture characteristics and microscopic morphology showing favic chandeliers (Figure 1.11(a) and (b)).
Infectious diseases
Published in Giuseppe Micali, Francesco Lacarrubba, Dermatoscopy in Clinical Practice, 2018
Saleh El-Shiemy, Hoda Monieb, Wael Saudi, Sara Mohy
Rudnicka and colleagues described the dermatoscopic picture of the favus as the presence of yellow scales, big yellow dots lacking hair shafts, large yellowish, wax-colored perifollicular areas, black dots, elongated blood vessels, and, at late stages of the disease, large areas lacking hair. The hair shafts may be normal, slightly curved, or absent. The dermatoscopic findings of kerion were also described by Rudnicka’s team as minimal scaling and subtle erythema as well as edematous nodules with or without pustules.20
The molecular immunology of human susceptibility to fungal diseases: lessons from single gene defects of immunity
Published in Expert Review of Clinical Immunology, 2019
The mycology folklore identifies that the first human fungal disease was detailed by Aulus Cornelius Celsus, likely around the first half of the first century AD: This ulcerative and suppurative scalp lesion, resembling a honeycomb, was termed ‘kerion’[19]. Of course, this attribution was based on the detailed clinical description, rather than any true mycological association. Ultimately, kerion celsi was recognized as an inflammatory type of tinea capitis, and the dermatophytic basis for it, favus (a chronic scalp infection with scutula formation), and the various other tinea capitis syndromes was first described by Johann Schönlein in 1839 and subsequently isolated by Robert Remak, who named the fungus Achorion schoenleinii, and who performed auto-inoculation experiments to prove its pathogenicity [20–22]. During this time, David Gruby independently also identified the fungal nature of favus (and similarly conducted auto-inoculation to prove disease causation), ringworm, and sycosis [23,24]. Further, Gruby identified the microbial nature of moniliasis [25]. Thus, around 1840, medical mycology was born, driven out of the need to understand the basis for some spectacular skin diseases.