Estimation of the burden of tinea capitis among children in Africa

Abstract

Tinea capitis is a common and endemic dermatophytosis among school age children in Africa. However, the true burden of the disease is unknown in Africa. We aimed to estimate the burden of tinea capitis among children <18 years of age in Africa. A systematic review was performed using Embase, MEDLINE and the Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews to identify articles on tinea capitis among children in Africa published between January 1990 and October 2020. The United Nation's Population data (2019) were used to identify the number of children at risk of tinea capitis in each African country. Using the pooled prevalence, the country‐specific and total burden of tinea capitis was calculated. Forty studies involving a total of 229,086 children from 17/54 African countries were identified and included in the analysis. The pooled prevalence of tinea capitis was 23% (95% CI, 17%–29%) mostly caused by Trichophyton species. With a population of 600 million (46%) children, the total number of cases of tinea capitis in Africa was estimated at 138.1 (95% CI, 102.0–174.1) million cases. Over 96% (132.6 million) cases occur in sub‐Saharan Africa alone. Nigeria and Ethiopia with the highest population of children contributed 16.4% (n = 98.7 million) and 8.5% (n = 52.2 million) of cases, respectively. Majority of the participants were primary school children with a mean age of 10 years. Cases are mostly diagnosed clinically. There was a large discrepancy between the clinical and mycological diagnosis. About one in every five children in Africa has tinea capitis making it one of the most common childhood conditions in the region. A precise quantification of the burden of this neglected tropical disease is required to inform clinical and public health intervention strategies.

Risk factors for scabies, tungiasis, and tinea infections among schoolchildren in southern Ethiopia: A cross-sectional Bayesian multilevel model

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“…Using a direct estimate based on the population of children below 15 years in Sierra Leone, we estimated the burden of fungal infections using a pooled prevalence of 19% reported in sub-Saharan Africa. 44 A total of 266,450 young persons in Sierra Leone have tinea capitis, giving a prevalence rate of 3,483 per 100,000 populations ( Table 2 ).…”

“…This trend is similar to estimates of tinea capitis in sub-Saharan Africa, where one in five children in sub-Saharan Africa have tinea capitis, making it one of the most common childhood diseases in the region. 44 …”

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