79. Health Ethics in School Environment:
Towards Improved Accountability of Human Life
S. Gopinath, H. Azariah, N.S. Kavitha
& K. Latha
Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany,
University of Madras - Guindy campus, Chennai - 600 025
To correlate health ethics, environmental
ethics and fungal community in biosphere, soil samples from different
schools and public parks in Madras City were collected for the
isolation of keratinophilic fungi which are harmful to human.
Schools located at Arakkonam were chosen for a case study. The
isolated fungal communities were categorized into two. Among
them, Dermatophytes & Chrysosporium species belonged
to category-I, while the other fungal species were characterized
as category-II. In school soil samples Dermatophytes and
related fungi were represented by eight species and comprised
of 32.8% of all the fungal isolates recovered. The other fungi
recovered were represented by 17 species which belonged to 12
different genera. In public park soil samples, Dermatophytes
and closely related species were represented by 7 species and
comprised of 38.9%. Whereas, other fungi were represented by
15 species belonging to 12 different genera. In the case study
at Arakkonam, out of six schools investigated, only in one school
there was no incidence of dermatomycosis either among the boys
or girls. In all the other schools the percentage of infected
pupil varied from 2.9% to 13.9%. This study correlates the health
and environmental ethics and fungal community so as to enhance
the quality of human health among school going children.
Introduction
Environmental ethics is a subject of biophilosophy and it derives its directives from the general theory of ethics which deals with the moral dimensions of human life in relation to the various dimensions of human actions on nature.
Life is respected when it is left in a natural condition or in the natural system as much as possible. Ethical issues are associated with humans and particularly with medical science and technology. Ethics associated with the care of living organisms with regard to the place of all species in the environment and the fact that each organism impacts on many others. It's aim is to approach animals, including humans, and plants, with the advancement and results of science, then promote human happiness and protect the environment. It considers current problems which are related with the activities of human life, study of manipulating nature to human advantage.
Currently, one of the important problems is the environmental quality of children's playgrounds and parks, as they represent a favourite environment for children to play. In addition, relaxation is one of the common action and requirement of human beings. Public parks and school play grounds form a favourable environment for relaxation. Surprisingly, the soil is the source of infection for many diseases which affect the health of man and animals. Since school and park represent a favourable environment for the children to play which are also favourable sites for the occurrence of a wide variety of fungi, they are, therefore, expected to play an important role in the epidemiology of human mycosis.
Most of the etiological agents of dermatomycosis
were keratinophilic fungi which were either of zoophilic or geophilic
origin (Mercantini et al 1978). Further, there is a relationship
between dermatomycosis and the conditions of human environment.
More than 80% of the patients were children in the age of 6 to
14 (Alishtayeh & Arda 1986). Therefore, the present study
was carried out to evaluate the risk of mycotic infection in
school children.
Studies on soil borne keratinophilic fungi
The study area comprised of 30 Schools (Primary) and 15 public parks in and around Madras city, Tamil Nadu, South India. Soil samples were taken in the months September'91, January'92, March'92, May'92 and July'92. The percentage occurrence of individual fungal species was calculated as follows:
Total no. of the colonies of individual fungal species in five replicates X 100
Total no. of colonies of all the fungal
species in five replicates
Distribution of keratinophilic fungi in soil of primary school in and around Madras city
Data on the distribution of keratinophilic fungi in soil of primary schools in Madras city is given in Table 1. A total of 485 colonies of keratinophilic fungi was isolated. They were grouped into two categories, Category - I Dermatophytes and closely related species (Microsporum, Trichophyton and Chrysosporium) and Category - II other fungi. A total number of 25 species of keratinophilic fungi belonging to 15 genera were isolated. Dermatophytes and related fungi were represented by 8 species. The other fungi recovered were represented by 17 species which belonged to 12 different genera.
Regarding the percentage distribution
of keratinophilic fungi, the dermatophytes and related species,
comprised of 32.8%. Dermatophytes constituted 10.9% of the colonies;
Chrysosporium species were comprised of 21.9% and the other
fungi comprised of 67.2% of the colonies.
Distribution of keratinophilic fungi in soil of public parks in and around Madras city
To study the distribution of keratinophilic fungi in the soil of public parks in Madras city, soil samples were collected from 15 public parks, (maintained by the Corporation of Madras) between September 1991 and July 1992 (6 samples) at regular intervals and analyzed for the presence of keratinophilic fungi. Data on the distribution and percentage occurrence of keratinophilic fungi are given in Table 2. A total number of 340 colonies of keratinophilic fungi were isolated and grouped into two categories.
Category: I Dermatophytes and closely related species were represented by 7 species.
Category II: Other fungi were represented by 15 species belonging to 12 different genera.
Regarding the percentage occurrence of
keratinophilic fungi, dermatophytes and related species comprised
of 38.9% (dermatophytes - 13.6% and Chrysosporium species
- 25.3%).
Hygiene and incidence of dermatocycosis from different schools in Arakkonam - case study
The pattern of incidence of dermatomycosis among the boys and girls from different schools in Arakkonam is given in Table 3. It may be seen that, out of the six schools investigated, only in one school there was no incidence of dermatomycosis either among the boys or girls. It is possible that the hygienic condition of the school environment is of a high order. In all the other schools the percentage of infected pupil varied from 2.9% to 13.9%.
Table 1: Distribution of keratinophilic fungi in soil - Schools
Table 2: Distribution of keratinophilic
fungi in soil - Public Park
Isolated species Parks Total %
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 Colonies
I. Dermatophytes & closely related species
1 M. gypseum - - 2 3 2 3 5 - - - 4 - 2 23 6.8
2.T. mentagrophytes - - - - - 2 1 3 - - - - 2 - - 8 2.4
3. T. terrestre 2 - - 2 1 - - 4 - - 2 1 2 1 - 15 4.4
4. C. keratinophilum - 3 - 3 4 - 3 6 3 - - 3 2 - 2 29 8.5
5. C. pannorum - - 2 - - 2 - - 1 2 1 - - 2 3 13 3.8
6. Chrysosporium sp. - 2 - - - - - 2 - - - - 2 - - 6 1.8
7. C. tropicum 4 3 - 2 3 4 - 8 2 - 2 - 6 - 4 311.2
Total spp./school 3 3 1 4 4 4 3 6 3 1 3 2 6 2 4
Total isolates/school 8 8 2 9 11
10 7 28 6 2 5 4 18 3 11 132 30.0
II. Other species
8. A. flavus - - 2 - 4 - 2 6 - - 2 - 4 - 3 23 6.8
9. C. curtipes - 2 - 1 - - 2 - 2 - - - 1 - 1 9 2.6
10. C. subterraneum 1 2 1 - - - - 2 - - - - 2 - 1 9 2.6
11. C. cladosporioides 3 - 2 - - 2 - 2 - - - - - - - 9 2.6
12. C. verticillata 2 - 1 - - 3 - 2 - 6 - 4 8 - - 26 7.6
13. D. sativum - - 2 - - - 2 - - 1 - - - - - 5 1.5
14. F. oxysporum 4 6 2 - 4 - - 4 2 - 2 - 4 - 4 32 9.4
15. F. solani - 2 - 1 - - 3 - 2 - - - - - 2 10 2.9
16. P. chrysogenum - 2 - 1 2 - - 2 - - - - 2 - - 9 2.6
17. P. citrinum 2 3 4 - - 2 - - - - - - - 2 - 13 3.8
18. P. thomii - - - - 3 - 2 3 - - 1 - - - - 9 2.6
19. R. stolonifer 2 2 2 - 4 - - - - - - 2 3 - - 15 4.4
20. S. racemosum - - - 2 - - - - - 2 - - - 2 - 6 1.8
21. T.viride - 2 - 3 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 2 - - - 16 4.7
22. V. luteoalbum 2 - 3 - - - - 4 - - 3 - 3- - 2 17 5.0
Total spp./school 7 8 9 5 5 4 5 9 3 4 4 3 8 2 6 208
Total isolates/school 16 21 19 8
17 11 11 28 6 11 8 8 27 4 13 340 61.0
Table 3 :Total number and % of children infected by dermatophytes in the Primary Schools: A case study at Arakkonam
Girls Boys Total % of
School infected
number Total No. % Total No. % Children
No. infected infected No. infected infected
1 165 13 7.8 156 17 11.0 9.5
2 54 24 15.6 149 18 12.0 13.9
3 108 0 0 113 0 0 0
4 175 4 2.4 171 6 3.5 2.9
5 192 14 7.3 189 12 6.4 6.8
6 185 12 6.5 187 9 4.8 5.6
The present study points to the fact that more the number of dermatophytic fungi, higher is the incidence of infection. However, the percentage of infection between boys and girls did not vary much. They were affected equally in all the schools.
These results point out that the infection
among school children is a function of the number of dermatophytic
species as well as the intensity of their colonization. It is
in the playground the school children often come in contact with
the soil contagion and get infected.
Conclusion
It is evident from the present study that
the environment in elementary school playground and public parks
has a health risk and is not an ideal environment for the children
to play. These playgrounds were initially covered with sand.
However, as there was no periodic replacement of sand or cleaning
of the sand, the playground soil becomes dirty. The visiting
stray cattle and dogs leave their faeces and the presence of other
organic residue which may form suitable substrates for the growth
of dermatophytes may probably explain the relatively high occurrence
of pathogenic colonies.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Prof. A. Mahadevan,
Director, Center for advanced Studies in Botany, University of
Madras, Madras for his encouragement. The financial support by
the UGC & DOEn are greatly acknowledged.
References
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