Prevalence of Dermatophytes and other Associated Fungi among School Children

The study investigated the prevalence of dermatophytosis and associated non-dermatophytes among Islamiyya school children of ages 5 – 13 years old in Kano metropolis. A total of 100 samples were collected and 91 (91%) yielded positive to fungal growth from which 66 (72.5%) were identified from males and 25 (27.5%) from females school children respectively. Dermatophytes amounting to 53 (58.2%) in frequency were recorded out of which 39 (73.6%) were isolated from males and 14 (26.4%) on females. Non-dermatophytes were also more in males (27 isolates) than females which had 11. The etiological agents of dermatophycoses recorded in this study in descending order of prevalence are M. ferrugineum (15.4%), M. canis (15.4%), M. audounii (9.9%), T. concentricum (5.5%), T. verrucosum (3.3%), T. rubrum (3.3%), T. mentagrophyte (2.2%), T. tonsorans (1.1%) and T. schoenleini (1.1%). A. flavus (9.9%), A. niger (8.8%), Penicillium sp. (7.7%), Candida albicans (5.5%), Mucor sp. (4.4%), Trichoderma sp. (3.3%) and A. fumigatus (2.2%) constituted the non-dermatophytes associated with these cutaneous infections. Higher frequency of dermatophytosis occurred more in children with greater propensity for play, interaction with domestic animals and who lacked the luxury of school seats during classroom learnin