Prevalence and Spectrum of Dermatophytes and Non-dermatophyte Mold Isolated from Patients with Tinea Capitis, Attending Rank Higher Specialized Dermatology Clinic, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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Date
2021-02
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Addis Abeba University
Abstract
Background: In the past decades, scalp ringworm or Tinea Capitis has become a major public
health problem affecting the developing countries. Tinea Capitis is a fungal infection that
predominantly affected scalp and hair shafts. The distribution, epidemiology, frequency, clinical
manifestations, and target hosts varies location to location. According to various studies, Tinea
Capitis has been affecting mostly school age children. This harms the psychological and
emotional aspects of those children lives.
Objective: The objective of our study was to determine the extent of Tinea Capitis and spectrum
of dermatophyte and non-dermatophyte molds implicated in causing fungal infection.
Material and Methods: A prospective non-randomized study was conducted at Rank Higher
Specialized Dermatology Clinic, from February 2019 to July 2019. A total of 364 study
participants were collected by convenient sampling techniques. For this study, sociodemographic
data was collected. Then fungal pathogen from Scalp Scraped samples was
identified by using KOH microscopic examination. Those samples were inoculated on to
mycological culture media. All inoculated plates were incubated at appropriate temperature for at
least for four weeks. Fungi were identified based on their microscopic, macroscopic and cultural
characteristics. The sample data were analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics version 23 software.
Results: In our study, the overall prevalence of Tinea Capitis 301/364(82.7%). Dermatophytes
were isolated in136 (45.2%) and the most frequent pathogen was Trichophyton violaceum
followed by non-dermatophyte molds 121 (40.2%)Aspergillus fumigatus was the most common
species and mixed infections were observed in 44 (14.6%)cases. Among 301 positive subjects
the predominant age group 1-14(84.4%)years followed by25-44 (10%).
Conclusion: High prevalence of Tinea Capitis infection with Trichophyton violaceum was the
predominant etiological agent in this study. This shows that Tinea Capitis is still a public health
problem. There is a need for public awareness of the problem and develop a capacity for
personal hygiene.
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Keywords
Tinea Capitis, Dermatophytes, non-dermatophytes, prevalence