Abstract
Background: Dermatophytes are highly contagious organisms of public health importance, particularly among primary school children in the resource-limited settings with a prevalence of 10% to 20% in East Africa. Here, we report the prevalence and associated factors of dermatophyte infections among primary school children in Ilemela, Mwanza - Tanzania. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 323 children aged between 4 and 10 years from 10 randomly selected primary schools. The study was conducted between July 2017 and September 2017. Pretested interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect relevant social-demographic information followed by clinical examination to establish the diagnosis of dermatophyte infections. Data were analysed using Stata version 13. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 7.63±1.27 years, with the slightl majority (n=183, 56.7%) of participants being girls. The majority (n=277, 70.3%) of the study participants were from public schools. A total of 299 (92.6%) children reported using tap water at home. Using clinical diagnosis, 94 (29.1%) children had dermatophyte infections with 92 (97.9%) of them having tinea capitis. By multivariate logistic regression analysis: being a boy (odds ratio [OR] 1.98; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.22 to 3.22; P=.01); using lake, river, or well water (OR 3.18; 95% CI, 1.36 to 7.38; P<.01); playing in a dusty environment (OR 2.65; 95% CI, 1.28 to 5.47; P<.01); playing with animals (OR 2.13; 95% CI, 1.28 to 3.56; P<.003); and having family members with dermatophyte infections (OR 10.56; 95% CI, 4.57 to 24.41; P<.001) predicted dermatophyte infections. Conclusion: The prevalence of dermatophyte infection is high in the study population and is associated with poor hygiene. Improved hygiene will reduce the prevalence of dermatophyte infections among primary school children in low-income countries. Further studies to identify the species and susceptibility patterns of these dermatophytes are recommended to establish empirical treatment guidelines.
Highlights
Dermatophyte infections are common superficial fungal infections of public health importance in areas with poor personal and domestic hygiene.[1]
Dermatophyte infection is of public health concern due to its contagious nature, as it has been found to be transmitted through close skin-to-skin contact with an infected person, sharing of combs and clothes, East African Health Research Journal 2019 | Volume 3 | Number 1 and playing with domestic animals.[4]
The present study provides data on the prevalence and factors associated with dermatophyte infections among primary school children in Ilemela, Mwanza, Tanzania
Summary
Dermatophyte infections are common superficial fungal infections of public health importance in areas with poor personal and domestic hygiene.[1] Due to the presence of a low amount of inhibitory fatty acids in the skin of prepubertal children, dermatophyte infections tend to occur more in this age group and mainly affects scalp and skin.[2,3] In East Africa, the prevalence of dermatophyte infections has been reported to range from 10% to 20% among primary school-aged children[4,5,6] with limited information from rural areas. Despite the physical and psychosocial sequelae that can be brought about by dermatophyte infections, this group of diseases remains neglected in low-income countries This is partially because most of these fungal infections are benign[10]; as a result, robust epidemiological data are scarce. These data are important for identifying the high-risk groups among these children and will inform appropriate preventive strategies
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