Histoplasmosis

Histoplasmosis
Other namesCave disease,[1] Darling's disease,[1] Ohio valley disease,[1] Reticuloendotheliosis,[1] Spelunker's lung and Caver's disease
Histoplasma capsulatum. Methenamine silver stain showing histopathologic changes in histoplasmosis
SpecialtyInfectious disease

Histoplasmosis is a fungal infection caused by Histoplasma capsulatum.[2][3] Symptoms of this infection vary greatly, but the disease affects primarily the lungs.[4] Occasionally, other organs are affected; called disseminated histoplasmosis, it can be fatal if left untreated.

H. capsulatum is found in soil, often associated with decaying bat guano or bird droppings. Disruption of soil from excavation or construction releases infectious spores that can be inhaled by humans. H. capsulatum has a one to two week incubation period within human lungs before symptoms arise.[5] The disease is common among AIDS patients due to their immunosuppression.[6]

From 1938 to 2013 in the US, 105 outbreaks were reported in a total of 26 states plus Puerto Rico. In 1978 to 1979 during a large urban outbreak in which 100,000 people were exposed to the fungus in Indianapolis,[7] victims had pericarditis, rheumatological syndromes, esophageal and vocal cord ulcers, parotitis, adrenal insufficiency, uveitis, fibrosing mediastinitis, interstitial nephritis, intestinal lymphangiectasia, and epididymitis. Histoplasmosis mimics colds, pneumonia, and the flu, and can be shed by bats in their feces.

  1. ^ a b c d Rapini RP, Bolognia JL, Jorizzo JL (2007). Dermatology: 2-Volume Set. St. Louis: Mosby. ISBN 978-1-4160-2999-1.
  2. ^ Johnstone RB (2017). "25. Mycoses and Algal infections". Weedon's Skin Pathology Essentials (2nd ed.). Elsevier. p. 452. ISBN 978-0-7020-6830-0.
  3. ^ Stenn F (February 1960). "Cave disease or speleonosis". Archives of Internal Medicine. 105 (2): 181–3. doi:10.1001/archinte.1960.00270140003001. PMID 13834312.
  4. ^ Ryan KJ, Ray CG, eds. (2004). Sherris Medical Microbiology (4th ed.). McGraw Hill. pp. 674–6. ISBN 978-0-8385-8529-0.
  5. ^ Pendergast M (2010). Inside the Outbreaks: The Elite Medical Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 13–14. ISBN 9780151011209.
  6. ^ Cotran RS, Kumar V, Fausto N, Robbins SL, Abbas AK (2005). Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease. St. Louis: Elsevier/Saunders. pp. 754–5. ISBN 978-0-7216-0187-8.
  7. ^ Center ER (April 12, 2021). "Histoplasmosis: A Hoosier Concern". Epidemiology Resource Center.