Fungal Infections in Plateau State, Nigeria

This paper describes a study carried out on people of different ages with various skin diseases who submitted themselves for examination and diagnoses at the Dermatophylosis Research Centre of the National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State, Nigeria. Samples of skin scrapping were collected and cultured on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) while some were examined under the microscope for possible morphological identification of the fungi. The results showed that out of the thirty samples analyzed, nine genera of fungi were isolated comprising of Trichophyton 10 (33.3%), Aspergillus 9 (30%), Penicillum 4 (13.32%), Microsporum 2 (6.70%), Epidermorphyton 1 (3.33%), Trichosporum 1 (3.33%), Cryptococcus 1 (3.33%), Mucor 1 (3.33%), and Cephalosporium 1 (3.33).

The study revealed high incidence of human fungal diseases, a situation that calls for good hygiene practices in the study area to mitigate and possibly eradicate the prevalence of human skin diseases in the rural area of Plateau State.