Histoplasma capsulatum is one of the more common causes of infection in the US Midwest and Southeast. Histoplasmosis, acquired through inhalation of mycelial fragments and microconidia, is most often self-limiting but can cause potentially lethal infection in patients with preexisting…
Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii are encapsulated, heterobasidiomycetous fungi that have progressed from being rare human pathogens, with just over 300 cases of cryptococcosis reported in the literature before 1955, to becoming a common worldwide opportunistic pathogen as immunocompromised human…
Mycetoma is a chronic progressive granulomatous infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissue most often affecting the lower extremities, typically a single foot. The disease is unique from other cutaneous or subcutaneous diseases in its triad of localized swelling, underlying…
Chromoblastomycosis (chromomycosis) is a chronic, localized fungal infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissue that produces raised scaly lesions, usually of the lower extremities. The lesions of chromoblastomycosis are frequently warty or cauliflower-like in appearance, with pathognomonic muriform cells (also…
Mycology Sporothrix schenckii sensu lato (meaning in the broadest sense) is a dimorphic fungus that exists in a hyphal form in vitro at temperatures less than 37°C. Colonies are initially white but gradually become brown to black due to the…
The disappearance of the class Zygomycetes from current taxonomy has made the term zygomycosis obsolete. The term zygomycosis encompassed both mucormycosis and entomophthoramycosis. These two infections are so different that no new name has been proposed to include both infections.…
Revised August 7, 2021 Invasive aspergillosis (IA) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the immunosuppressed population. This infection is caused by Aspergillus , a hyaline mold, and is responsible for a variety of noninvasive or semiinvasive conditions.…
Revised April 26, 2022 Written descriptions of oral lesions that were probably thrush date to the time of Hippocrates and Galen. Langenbeck, in 1839, found fungi in oral lesions of a patient. In 1861, Zenker described the first well-documented case…
The advent of the human immunodeficiency virus epidemic and the ever-increasing use of immunosuppressive drugs has dramatically increased the incidence of deep mycoses and substantially broadened the range of fungi causing potentially lethal disease. Clinicians caring for highly immunosuppressed patients…
Actinomycosis is an indolent, slowly progressive infection caused by anaerobic or microaerophilic bacteria, primarily from the genus Actinomyces, that normally colonize the mouth, colon, and vagina. Disruption of mucosa may lead to infection of virtually any site. When the organisms…