Department of microbiology, Islamic Azad University, Arak Branch, Arak, Iran.
Department of medical parasitology and mycology, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran.
J Mycol Med. 2019 Apr;29(1):19-23. doi: 10.1016/j.mycmed.2019.01.002. Epub 2019 Jan 16.
Asymptomatic carriage is a condition of positive dermatophyte scalp culture without signs and symptoms of tinea capitis. Carriers are the source of dermatophytes that are able to transfer fungal agents to other people. The aim of this study was evaluating asymptomatic dermatophyte scalp carriage among students of primary schools in Arak city.
Sampling by a sterilized hairbrush from scalp was performed among 3174 students. Hairbrush was inoculated onto Mycosel agar plates. Dermatophyte isolates were identified by PCR-RFLP using MvaI enzyme. In vitro antifungal susceptibility test was done according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) M38-A2 protocol. The antifungal drugs used included griseofulvin (GRZ), terbinafine (TER), itraconazole (ITC) and fluconazole (FLU).
A total of 3174 schoolchildren were screened, 15 cases (0.48%) had a positive culture for dermatophytes. Asymptomatic carriers including 11 (73.3%) boys and 4 (26.7%) girls and their age range were between 7-12 years. Trichophyton tonsurans (80%), T. interdigitale (13.3%) and T. rubrum (6.7%) were the most common isolated dermatophyte. Based on the obtained antifungal susceptibility results, terbinafine had the lowest and fluconazole had the highest MIC values for all of the tested dermatophyte isolates.
In the study, T. tonsurans was the most common species isolated from asymptomatic carriers and of the four antifungals tested, terbinafine had the most active antifungal in vitro against all isolates. Identifying and treating scalp dermatophyte carriers can prevent the spread of tinea capitis in the community.
无症状带菌是指真菌头皮培养阳性而无头癣症状和体征的一种状态。带菌者是能够将真菌病原体传播给其他人的真菌来源。本研究旨在评估阿拉克市小学生无症状头皮真菌带菌情况。
对 3174 名学生进行了无菌发刷取样。将发刷接种到 Mycosel 琼脂平板上。使用 MvaI 酶的 PCR-RFLP 对真菌分离株进行鉴定。根据临床和实验室标准协会（CLSI）M38-A2 方案进行体外抗真菌药敏试验。所用的抗真菌药物包括灰黄霉素（GRZ）、特比萘芬（TER）、伊曲康唑（ITC）和氟康唑（FLU）。
共筛查了 3174 名学童，15 例（0.48%）的真菌培养呈阳性。无症状带菌者包括 11 名（73.3%）男孩和 4 名（26.7%）女孩，年龄在 7-12 岁之间。最常见的分离真菌为须癣毛癣菌（80%）、趾间毛癣菌（13.3%）和红色毛癣菌（6.7%）。根据获得的抗真菌药敏结果，特比萘芬对所有测试的真菌分离株的 MIC 值最低，氟康唑的 MIC 值最高。
在本研究中，须癣毛癣菌是从无症状带菌者中分离出的最常见的菌种，在所测试的四种抗真菌药物中，特比萘芬对所有分离株的体外抗真菌活性最强。鉴定和治疗头皮真菌带菌者可以防止头癣在社区中的传播。
