Changing in the Epidemiology of Tinea Capitis among School Children in Egypt

BACKGROUND Tinea capitis remains a prevalent health problem among school-aged children. OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence of tinea capitis among primary school students, in Fayoum, Egypt with identification of etiological agents in both public and private primary schools. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted in twelve primary schools. The students were selected from different grades with a total number of 12,128 students. Hair and scalp were clinically examined for any lesions that may suspect tinea capitis and mycological samples were collected for direct microscopy and culture. RESULTS The prevalence of tinea capitis in the study group was 0.4% and higher in public than private schools (73.5% versus 26.5% respectively). Boys were more affected than girls with boy to girls' ratio 5:1. Intrafamily history of infection was present in 40.8% of tested group while 51% showed low social standard profile. Mycological culture revealed that Microsporum canis was the predominant isolated organism followed by M. audouinii (52% and 36% respectively). CONCLUSION M. canis is replacing Trichophyton violaceum as an etiology for tinea capitis in Egypt with lower prevalence rate than reported previously.