Ring Worm Skin Infection in a Rural Community of Bushenyi (Uganda)
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Date
2015-06-15
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British Microbiology Research Journal
Abstract
Ring worm skin infections which have continuously been neglected in several communities of sub Saharan Africa, thus leading to the development of herbal remedies as communities seek to find solutions to the menace. The aim of this study was to assess the community skin ring worm infections and their associated risk factors in South Western Uganda.
Materials and Methods: This was a cross sectional study in a rural community of Bushenyi district
in South Western Uganda. A total of 34 homesteads were randomly selected and a semi-structured
questionnaire was used for data collection.
Results and Discussion: The study showed that majority of homesteads which accessed water
from non protected springs, 41.2% had ring worm skin infection of the head (tinea capitis), 11.8%
due to tinea corporis and 5.9% either due to tinea unguium, tinea cruris, tinea corporis, tinea
circinata, or tinea glabrosa, tinea pedis and tinea barbae which are generalized in different parts of
the body. The major risk factors identified were water security (P = 0.01) and community treatment
practices (P = 0.002) against the dermatophytes. Despite the fact that some homesteads attempted
to treat the skin infections, other homesteads didn’t bother to seek treatment thus posing a major
risk factor for the re-infection in the community.
Conclusion: The adoption of ethno-medicinal plants for management of skin infection has been
shown to be greatly adopted by this rural community, thus a follow up study to understand the antifungal
activity of a selected herbal plant from the community is highly encouraged.
Description
This work was carried out in collaboration between all authors. Authors SAT, MAU, MAS, EMA, GA,MSD, GOO, HAH and NM carried out data collection and manuscript review. Authors SAT, MAU,MAS, EMA, LNM, IE and KIK carried out data analysis, literature search, manuscript writing and review. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Keywords
Skin infections in Uganda, Community dermatophytes, Tinea