Prevalence of tinea capitis as well as of asymptomatic carriers in school children in Nablus area (Palestine).

A study of tinea capitis was carried out during October 1998, involving 8531 school children aged 6-14 years (4718 males and 3813 females), attending 12 primary schools located in urban, rural, and refugee camp communities in the Nablus district in the Palestinian Authority. A total of approximately 1389 of the school children aged 6-12 years (724 males and 665 females) were also surveyed on three occasions at 2-3 month intervals, over a 9-month period (October 1998-May 1999) using the hair brush technique, for prevalence of asymptomatic tinea capitis carriage. Twenty-three(0.27%) mycologically proven cases of tinea capitis were detected.