THE CARRIER STAGE OF TINEA CAPITIS IN NIGERIA.

TINEA capitis is highly endemic in Nigeria. Being a comparative trivilialitV; it i.s seldom complained of, but cases arc easy to find. To reveal tlie situation iit an area unmodified by public health measures, or even indigenous medicine, a school was selected for study in a town which until two years ago had had no doctor. The advantages of such a choice were tempered by the lack of facilities such as electrieity or drugs, but the survey was designed to minimize the effects of such drawbacks. Mackenzie {1963) has described the patient's hairbrush as a ])Otcnt source of diagnostic material in iion-fiuuresctMit ringworm of the scalp. Hairhrushos are rarely used in Nigeria, but a modification of the method was arrived at which mav be made use of in similar circumstances.