Prevalence of Dermatophytic Infection and the Spectrum of Dermatophytes in Patients Attending a Tertiary Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background. Dermatophytosis is common worldwide and continues to increase. Objective. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of dermatophytosis and the spectrum of ringworm fungi in patients attending a tertiary hospital. Methods. Samples were collected from 305 patients. A portion of each sample was examined microscopically and the remaining portion of each sample was cultured onto plates of Sabouraud's dextrose agar containing chloramphenicol with and without cycloheximide. Dermatophyte isolates were identified by studying macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of their colonies. Result. Of 305 samples, fungi were detected in 166 (54.4%) by KOH of which 95 were dermatophytes while 242 (79.4%) samples were culture positive of which 130 isolates were dermatophytes. Among dermatophyte isolates T. violaceum was the most common (37.7%) cause of infection. Tinea unguium was the predominant clinical manifestation accounting for 51.1% of the cases. Patients with age group 25–44 and 45–64 years were more affected. T. violaceum was the most common pathogen in tinea unguium and tinea capitis, whereas T. mentagrophytes was the most common pathogen in tinea pedis. Conclusion. Further intensive epidemiological studies of ring worm fungus induced dermatophytosis which have public health significance are needed.

Epidemiology of Dermatophytes and Non Dermatophyte Molds among Patients Attending Rank Higher Specialized Dermatology Clinic, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

“…In the present study, direct microscopy positivity rate is 133/318(41.8%) and culture positivity rate is 148/318(46.5 %) ( Table: 1). This was in line with a study conducted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 42.6% [9]. This occurrence is due to that; Ethiopia is a tropical country with wet humid climate, large population size, and low socioeconomic status and this is supported by other studies conducted on dermatophytosis etiologies and risk factors [9,15,16,34].…”

“…), overcrowding, environmental hygiene culture, awareness to dermatophytes, age of individuals, hygiene and socioeconomic conditions have been described as major factors for these variations of dermatophyte epidemiology [4,5,6,7]. Childrens between the ages of 4 and 16 years are more at risk due to more contact to different sources and inadequate amount of fungi-inhibiting fatty acids synthesized predisposed them to dermatophytic infections [8,9,10]. Now days, there are about 40 known species in the genera of dermatophytes.…”

“…Ethiopia is a developing nation located in the tropical region with wet humid climate which makes it to fell into regions with high prevalence of dermatophytosis [9,10]. So, conducting further studies to investigate human dermatophytosis regardless of site, age, and the distribution of fungi implicated in causing dermatophytosis appears to be one of the priorities in health related studies in Ethiopia.…”

Study of Dermatophytic Infections and Isolates in a Rural Tertiary Care Hospital

“…This study showed that males are infected more when compared to females with a male female ratio of 2:1 (Table 3). Meanwhile there are studies which show a higher prevalence of dermatophytic infections in females than males 7 .…”

Identification of some human pathogenic fungi using four DNA extraction methods

“…Incidences of the prevalence is not only particular to Lagos-Nigeria but is observed in many countries and crowded places in the world. For instance, Lakshmanan et al (2015) reported a high incidence of fungal infection in rural India while Teklebirhan and Bitew (2015) reported a prevalence of 79.4% in 242 sampled cases.…”