Assessing the prevalence of tinea capitis in primary school children and identification of etiologic agents, in sub zone Gala-Nefhi, Eritrea

Tinea capitis is a widespread scalp infection in children caused by dermatophytes. The disease has been a major public health concern for decades. Some factors implicated in infection include poor personal hygiene, crowded living conditions, and low socioeconomic status. This dermatophytic infection is one of the common skin disease in rural and semi urban school children in Eritrea. This study aims on evaluating the prevalence of tinea capitis in three primary schools located in sub zone Gala Nefhi, Eritrea and also identifying the causative agents and the risk factors for this infection. A cross-sectional study was carried out in 2500 school children. A questionnaire was administered and Samples were collected by skin scraping technique from the suspected students for direct microscopy by KOH test and for culturing purpose. Samples were inoculated on PDA media to observe growth of fungi and identify the fungi macroscopically and microscopically for genera level fungal identification and confirmation of the etiological agents. Out of the one hundred sixty-four (164) samples collected from school children with indication of Tinea capitis, one hundred forty-eight were found positive (148) and the remaining sixteen (16) were negative. From 148 positives, 112 (75.7%) were males and 36 (24.3%) females aged between 6 and 13 years. The overall prevalence rates in dermatophytic infection was 5.9% (148/2500) with etiological agents consisting Trichophyton spp. (66%), Epidermophyton spp. (14%) Microsporum spp. (10%) and Aspergillus niger (7%). According to this study, students in the evaluated elementary schools in Gala Nefhi displayed a mild prevalence of Tinea infections, with Trichophyton serving as the principal etiological agent.