Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Prevalence and Risk Factors for Cutaneous Mycoses among Boarding Secondary Schools Students in Coast Region, Tanzania

Emmanuel B. Deogratias, Kennedy D. Mwambete

Asian Journal of Medicine and Health · pp. 11–19 · Published 19 Jul 2021

10.9734/ajmah/2021/v19i830352

Abstract

Aims: To determines the prevalence and risk factors for cutaneous mycoses (CMs) among boarding secondary schools’ students in Coast Region, Tanzania Study Design: It was a cross-sectional survey-based study involving boarding secondary schools’ students. Cluster sampling technique was employed for data collection using semi-structured questionnaire. Place and Duration of Study: It involved students from both government and private boarding secondary schools in a period between January and June 2020. Methodology: The study involved 320 students (equal number of females and males). The questionnaire inquired on these key issues: contraction of CMs and/or other skin related infections, and risk factors associated with CMs, previous exposure to antifungal agents, reasons for the use, duration of use and its outcome. Obtained information was analyzed using the SPSS version 20. Multivariate and logistic regression were employed to determine association among investigated variables. Differences among the variables were considered statistically significant when p<0.05. Results: Prevalence of CMs among the students was 61.5% (n = 197/320). Higher proportion of students in government schools had CMs as compared to private ones (35.9% vs. 25.6%; p <0.01). The former schools were twice more likely to contract CMs (OR = 2.43, 95%CI: 1.53-3.86, p <0.01) than those in private schools. Correlations existed between students’ ages and recurrence of CMs (Pearson’s R = 0.044; p<0.01); and between students’ bodyweights and prevalence of CMs (R= 0.139; p = 0.02). Association existed between non-adherence to antifungal treatment and prevalence of CMs (p = 0.001). Conclusion: High prevalence of CMs was revealed among students, which was relatively higher among males than females. Risk factors for CMs included poor personal hygiene and sanitary conditions, students’ ages and bodyweights. Education on risk factors for CMs among the respondents is required for earlier, prevention and control. Further studies involving larger samples size are highly recommended.

Prevalence recurrence cutaneous mycoses secondary schools’ students

References (18)

  1. 1 Hidden Killers: Human Fungal Infections [DOI]
  2. 2 Global and Multi-National Prevalence of Fungal Diseases—Estimate Precision [DOI]
  3. 3 Epidemiological trends in skin mycoses worldwide [DOI]
  4. 4 Sexual Dimorphism in Innate Immunity [DOI]
  5. 5 The X chromosome and sex-specific effects in infectious disease susceptibility [DOI]
  6. 6 Emerging Fungal Infections: New Patients, New Patterns, and New Pathogens [DOI]
  7. 7 Neglected endemic mycoses [DOI]
  8. 8 The Changing Face of Dermatophytic Infections Worldwide [DOI]
  9. 9 Host and pathogen ecology drive the seasonal dynamics of a fungal disease, white-nose syndrome [DOI]
  10. 10 Interaction of obesity and infections [DOI]
  11. 11 Superficial fungal infection of the skin [DOI]
  12. 12 Antifungal resistance in superficial mycoses [DOI]
  13. 13 Viral Infections and Interferons in the Development of Obesity [DOI]
  14. 14 Estimated Burden of Fungal Infections in Namibia [DOI]
  15. 15 A prospective epidemiologic survey on the prevalence of onychomycosis and dermatophytosis in male boarding school residents [DOI]
  16. 16 Original Article: Superficial cutaneous fungal infections in tropical countries [DOI]
  17. 17 Magnitude and Associated Risk Factors of Superficial Skin Fungal Infection Among Primary School Children in Southern Tanzania [DOI]
  18. 18 Cutaneous disorders of adolescence among Nigerian secondary school students [DOI]

Cited by 4

Fungal Infections Resulting From Prolonged Use of Personal Protective Equipment

Elif Aydın, Duygu Percin Renders, Selve Arslan Utku · Current Microbiology · 2025

Prevalence and Comparison of Superficial-Cutaneous Fungal Infections Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Shiraz, Iran: A Retrospective Study (2018–2021)

Ahmad Jabrodini, Seyed Morteza Bahrololuom, Fatemeh Amirinia · Indian Journal of Microbiology · 2023

Showing 2 of 4 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Related research

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

51

Page views

0

PDF downloads

8

Outbound clicks

4

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.