Fungal infections of the skin and nails are common global problems with attendant morbidity among affected individuals. Children\nare mostly affected due to predisposing factors such as overcrowding and low socioeconomic factors. The aim of this study was\nto determine the prevalence and the clinical patterns of superficial fungal infections among primary school children in Ile-Ife.\nA multistage sampling was conducted to select eight hundred pupils from ten primary schools in Ile-Ife. Data on epidemiological\ncharacteristics and clinical history was collected using a semistructured questionnaire and skin scrapingswere done.Theprevalence\nof superficial fungal infections among the 800 respondents was 35.0%. Male pupils constituted 51.0% of respondents while the\nfemales were 49.0%. The mean age for all the respondents was 9.42 �± 2.00. Tinea capitis was the commonest infection with a\nprevalence of 26.9% and tinea unguium, tinea corporis, and tinea faciei had a prevalence of 0.8%, 0.6%, and 0.5%, respectively.\nTinea manuum had the least prevalence of 0.1%. Pityriasis versicolor had a prevalence of 4.4%. Microsporum audouinii was the\nleading organism isolated.The study shows that the prevalence of superficial fungal infection (SFI) among primary school children\nin Ile-Ife is high with tinea capitis as the commonest SFI.
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