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Airborne Fungal Diseases
Fungal Infection
Immune Compromised Hosts
Cryptococcus
Candida
Skin Infection with Fungi
Fungal Contamination of Buildings
Fungi in Hospitals
Allergy to Fungi
Fungi in Food
Aspergillus

Blastomycosis
Introductory Article
My Blastomycosis Story
Fatal Brain Infection
Dr G's 2 slide culture
Blastomycosis Images
Blastomycosis Medical Literature
Reflections on an Illness

More About Air and Breathing
Order book, Air and Breathing
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Stephen Gislason MD

Fungal Infections

As infecting parasites, fungi can be hostile to other living creatures-- plants and animals, large and small. Fungi produce disease in many different ways. The most obvious are skin infections that everyone develops. Surface infections of the scalp produce itching and scaling (dandruff) and are a life-long feature of most humans.

Some fungi exist in the environment and  are able to cause an invasive infection in otherwise healthy individuals. Other fungi are opportunistic fungi that become invasive when immune defences are compromised. Humans are hosts to resident species such as candida that are more a nuisance to people with normal immune systems, but become life threatening infectious agents when immune defence is compromised. More about Candida Infection

The endemic mycoses include histoplasmosis, blastomycosis, crytococcus, sporotrichosis, coccidioidomycosis, paracoccidioidomycosis, and penicilliosis. These organisms exist as molds in the environment and as either yeasts or spherules in tissues. Although all 6 diseases have common manifestations, each has its  distinct characteristics. They infect the lungs, skin, and other organs.

Invasive fungal infections are more difficult to treat than bacterial infections and chronic infection is more likely. Mycosis are often treated with an azole antifungal drug such as itraconazole. Patients who are severely ill with CNS involvement are  treated with amphotericin B, followed by an oral azole agent. Prolonged  suppressive treatment with itraconazole twice daily maintains remission in 95% of immune compromised patients.

Histoplasma capsulatum infection is a world-wide problem that causes more severe infection in immunocompromised hosts. These fungi thrive in moist soil enriched by bird and bat droppings and infect human beings by an inhalation route.  Aspergillus fumigatus is the most important airborne fungal pathogen causing life-threatening infections in hospitalized immunosuppressed patients. 

See Blastomycosis.

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