Prevalence of Onychomycosis among the Students of Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi

The increased cases of onychomycosis call for global health concern. Nail diseases should raise attention and receive proper care from both physicians and other health care providers. This study investigated the prevalence of fungi associated with nail infections among students of Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi, Benue State. A total of 300 samples were tested in the Microbiology laboratory, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi using 20% KOH and culture plates of Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) which was mixed with streptomycin as an antibiotic. Results obtained, showed that 53.34% of the total sample were KOH positive and 26.66% were KOH negative. While 20.0% were negative for both culture and KOH. The predominant pathogen were dermatophytes (41.66%), followed by yeast (33.32%) and the moulds with (24.99%). Onychomycosis was observed to be common between the age of 24-28 with the occurrence of 60%, and 53.33% in female students while 46.67% were recorded for male students. Based on the result obtained, it was recommended that people should avoid going barefooted in public places, keep feet cool and dry. Students should avoid wearing the same closed footwear day by day, they should rotate footwear and they should also comply with all the preventive and treatment protocol