الفهرس 
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Abstract
Dermatophtes are group of closely related kerationphilic fungi representing well defined group of about 40 strains placed under three species; Trichophyton, Epidermophyton, and Microspore. They are responsible for agroup of diseases termed dermatophytoses.
The aim of this study was estimate the prevelance of dermatophytes infection in Menoufia governorate basic school students in addition of determination of the causative organism and possible risk factors.
This across –sectional study was conducted on 3464 pupils of primary and preparatory school pupils in Menoufia governorate, Egypt. It was carried out to measure the prevalence of superficial dermatophyte infection among this age group, its clinical types, causative organism and the associated risk factors.
The students under the study were subjected to: careful dermatological examination including their scalps to detect the presence of hair loss, scaling, crusting, follicular inflammation, erythema or scalp swelling. The presence of at least two of the previous clinical signs are suggestive for clinical diagnosis of tinea capitis.
Suspicious cases were then subjected to:
1)Detailed history was taken from all suspicious cases as regard age, sex, residence, duration of illness, presence of itching and history of contact with animals. Family history was asked about in the form of socioeconomic level of the family and whether one of the family members was similarly affected or not. History of previous treatment was asked about and personal hygiene was taken into consideration 2) Complete general examination to detect the presence of any systemic disease.
3) The specimen was collected after cleaning the suspected area with 70% ethyl alcohol to reduce the likelihood of bacterial contamination and improve the chance for fungal detect All specimens were then transported to the laboratory for mycological examination including KOH examination and culture on SDA media.
According to the results of this work, the socio - demographic criteria of the studied pupils showed that the mean age of the studied group was (9.88±2.37) year and ranged from 6 – 14 years. 1701 (49.1%) of our participants were females with male to female ratio (1.04: 1) . 1845 (53.3%) of them were of urban residence. 1300 (37.5%) of them were in age group (9-12 years), and 1123 (32.4%) of them were in age group (12-15) years. 855 (24.7%) of the pupils were of low SEL level, 1492 (43.1%) were of middle SEL and 1117 (32.2%) were of high SEL .
Regarding the prevalence of the superficial dermatophyte infection in the current study , we found that the prevalence of superficial dermatoplyte infections was 1.4%,with tinea capitis was the most common presenting type (71.4%), and M.canis was the only detected causative organism (100%). Superficial dermatophytoses specially T.capitis, T.pedis and onychomycosis were more prevelant in male than female pupils (p<0.001). Regarding the risk factors in our study, there was significantly higher rate of superficial dermatophyte infection among pupils having low SEL and those who are dealing with pets, using towels of other family member and using tools of their collogues.