Blastomycosis
Bureaucracy is like a fungus that contaminates everything - Jaime Lerner
.jpg "Blastomycosis")
image by: Dr. Tim's Pet Food Company, LLC
HWN Suggests
The Endemic Mimic: Blastomycosis An Illness Often Misdiagnosed
Blastomycosis is another infectious disease that often is initially misdiagnosed. It usually is a disease of “normal” persons, unlike many other fungal pathogens which cause opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients. This infection occurs both in epidemics and sporadically as one of the endemic mycoses...
The reported incidence of blastomycosis depends on recognition of the clinical diagnosis because there are no good or reliable markers of previous infection such as the skin test for tuberculosis, histoplasmosis, or coccidioidomycosis...
Unlike several other fungal infections which are opportunistic, blastomycosis is usually diagnosed in “normal” hosts…
Resources
Clinical manifestations and treatment of blastomycosis
Blastomycosis is endemic to North America, particularly states/provinces bordering the Mississippi, Ohio and St. Lawrence Rivers, and the Great Lakes. The clinical manifestations of blastomycosis are broad, ranging from asymptomatic infection to acute respiratory distress syndrome and death.
What Was the Cause of the Excruciating Pain in His Shoulders and Hips?
A few days later, the doctor conveyed something closer to a final diagnosis. It was a fungus, though the lab still wasn’t sure which one. It was either Blastomycosis or Cryptococcus.
A fungus among us: Get the dirt on blastomycosis
Headed into the garden? Maybe you’re camping this spring or doing some yard cleanup. Either way, you need to know about blastomycosis, commonly referred to as blasto. This fungal infection, while rare in much of the U.S., is fairly common in northern Wisconsin...
Blastomycosis in Quebec, Canada: Highlighting the Importance of Exposure to Decaying Wood in Patients
Our findings taken together with previous experimental work indicate that it may be important to question blastomycosis patients about exposure to decaying wood as a possible source for acquiring the infection.
Blastomycosis Outbreak: Source Of Fungal Infection Cases In Wisconsin Still A Mystery
The fungus that causes blastomycosis is commonly found in soil, but exactly what triggered the spike in cases in Marathon County remains a mystery, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Wisconsin health officials.
If the Boy Had Pneumonia, Why Did He Have Odd Sores on His Body?
They had heard of blasto, of course, but thought it was something only dogs could get. And they knew how serious it was in dogs. Once the blasto diagnosis was confirmed, the boy started on a six-month course of treatment, which was completed a year and a half ago.
Incidence and Trends of Blastomycosis-Associated Hospitalizations in the United States
Blastomycosis occurs sporadically and in outbreaks. Outbreaks have been reported in multiple states with and without mandatory reporting.
Paradise – not without its plagues: Overwhelming Blastomycosis pneumonia
Blastomyces dermatitidis...may cause a flu-like illness to severe pneumonia that often remains a diagnostic challenge and results in delay in diagnosis and appropriate treatment thereby increasing associated morbidity and mortality.
The unappreciated intracellular lifestyle of Blastomyces dermatitidis
Blastomyces dermatitidis is the causative agent of Blastomycosis, a potentially deadly fungal infection. The fungus is considered a primary pathogen that can infect immune-competent individuals, yet B. dermatitidis can also reactivate in previously infected patients that become immune-compromised.
The Endemic Mimic: Blastomycosis An Illness Often Misdiagnosed
One of the endemic fungi, Blastomyces dermatitidis, can cause epidemics of infection with multiple persons involved in a point source outbreak but more commonly causes sporadic cases of infection within the areas of endemicity. Blastomycosis can present as an acute pneumonia which is often misdiagnosed as acute pneumococcal pneumonia or the infection may present as a chronic pneumonia along with weight loss, night sweats, hemoptysis, and a lung mass suggesting tuberculosis or carcinoma of the lung.
Blastomycosis
I have put together this site in memory of my Golden Retriever, who is believed to have died from Blastomycosis. I am collecting all the information I can find about this fungal disease.
Fun With Microbiology (What's Buggin' You?)
Infection most likely occurs through inhalation of fungal spores when the environmental fungus is disturbed (raking leaves, moving woodpiles, gardening/planting, etc.). Once inside the lungs, the change of environment (carbon dioxide content, organic nutrients, pH and primarily the increased temperature (37oC)), and causes the fungal spores to develop into the yeast cell form.
CDC
Blastomycosis is an infection caused by a fungus called Blastomyces. The fungus lives in the environment, particularly in moist soil and in decomposing matter such as wood and leaves.
NethealthBook.com
Conditions for multiplication of this pathogen are particularly good when soil is rich in excretions from animals and the soil is acidy and moist containing decaying organic material.
Thoracic.org
Blastomycosis is a disease caused by breathing in a fungus named Blastomyces dermatidis. This fungus is found in moist soil of rotting plants or wood.
Tom Volk's Fungus of the Month
Blastomycosis starts out as a lung infection caused by inhalation of the conidia. The conidia transform into the yeast form, The transformation into a yeast involves many physiological and biochemical changes, having the effect of "buying some time" for the fungus to become established.
Introducing Stitches!
Your Path to Meaningful Connections in the World of Health and Medicine
Connect, Collaborate, and Engage!
Coming Soon - Stitches, the innovative chat app from the creators of HWN. Join meaningful conversations on health and medical topics. Share text, images, and videos seamlessly. Connect directly within HWN's topic pages and articles.
