Hey folks...
 
Ringworm (aka Tinea) is NOT a virus.  It's a fungus.  There are a number
of different labels for it:
 
Tinea cruris - aka jock itch, ringworm of the groin
Tinea corporis - ringworm of the body/face
Tinea manum - ringworm of the hand
Tinea incognito
Tinea capitis - ringworm of the scalp
Tinea barbae - ringworm of the beard
Tinea versicolor
etc etc etc
 
These names are descriptive of the location, there are a number of specific
fungi which can cause ringworm.  There are ringworm fungi in 3 genera:
Microsporum, Trichophyton, and Epidermophyton.  There can also be secondary
infections from other organisms.  (Tinea versicolor is a bit different:
it is caused by an overgrowth of a yeast that is part of the normal skin
flora, and no one really knows if it's contagious or not.)
 
Not all ringworm looks like rings.
 
Fluorescing:
  Wood's light (light with a wavelength above 365 nm) will reveal SOME
  Tinea, but not all:
  - M. canis and M. audouinii will cause scalp hair (but *not* the scalp
    iteslf) to fluoresce blue-green
  - T. schoenleinii will also cause scalp hair to fluroresce, but a
    palerr green. No other hair-infections fluoresce.
 
Skin Tinea infections do not fluoresce, escept for Tinea versicolor,
which glows pale white-yellow.
 
There are other things that can be mistaken for Tinea which also fluoresce,
including bacteria.
 
Tinea is usually treated with steroidal antifungals, topical and/or oral.
I'm not a dermatologist, so I'm not going to state any specific
medications.  There's at least one over-the-counter shampoo that may help,
though, for mild cases.  (Belgian Green..... ____ Blue :-))
 
My dermatology book states that zoophilic infections (animal to human
infection) are possible.  In the case of tinea capitis, it lists dogs,
cats, mokeys, rabbits, guinea pigs and cattle as possible culprits.  Not
all animals transmit all varieties.  There can also be geophilic infection
(infection from dermatophytes that live in the soil), and human-to-human
infection.  Some of the fungi can live on humans but not on animals, too.
 
All factoids from _Clinical Dermatology, 2nd ed_, Thomas P. Habif,
Baltimore:Mosby, 1990, Chapter 13.
 
Hope this helps -- or at least gives you a little more info.  Frequent
washing is a good idea.  I had a VERY annoying case of Tinea versicolor
a number of years ago.  I cleaned my clothes and bedding constantly,
showered with prescription orange goop.... but it finally took oral
medication to get rid of it, for me anyway.
 
Megan
--
mailto:[log in to unmask] Manassas, VA
"'Progress in ethics is the only cure for progress in science.'"
-- Freeman Dyson quoting Haldane, JPL 1994
[Posted in FML issue 3295]