Since 2000 there has been a considerable increase in the number of diseases caused by fungi, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If you are usually healthy, then it is still rare for fungi to spread throughout your body causing much harm. But if you have an impaired immune system, then you are susceptible to developing the more serious symptoms of these diseases.
Blastomyces Dermatitidis
This fungus is found in the Upper Great Lakes area, in the Ohio-Mississippi River Valley and in upstate New York. It is especially found in areas where there is rotting wood; for example, around beaver dams. It causes a lung disease called blastomycosis, where you may not have any symptoms. But then, it can cause fever, chills, chest pain and cough. This fungus can also attack other organs besides your lungs. If this happens, it will usually form lesions and abscesses in your skin.
Histoplasma Capsulatum
The fungus is primarily found in Ohio, the Missouri River area, in Mississippi and around the Eastern Great Lakes. According to Dr. Alan Sugar, professor of medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine in "The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals," you will become infected if you inhale soil that has bird or bat feces in it which has been contaminated by this fungus. It causes a disease called histoplasmosis, where most people do not have any symptoms or they will be very mild. If you do have symptoms, then you can have fever, chest pain, muscle pain and cough. You can develop a bad cough, with lesions in your lungs that are similar to tuberculosis. It can also spread throughout your body, affecting your liver, spleen and skin.
Coccidioides Immitis
Coccidioides is mainly found in the southwestern states. Sixty percent of people who are infected for the first time do not have any symptoms, according to Dr. George Brooks, professor of laboratory medicine and microbiology and immunology at the University of California. If you have symptoms, then you have coccidioidomycosis, which also goes by the nickname of "valley fever." You may have a fever, along with headache, pain in your joints and a cough. About two weeks after your symptoms start, you may develop a rash. If you have an impaired immune system, the fungus will be able to spread outside of your lungs.
Sporothrix Schenckii
This fungus lives on rose bushes, plum trees, in mulch and in some mosses. The sporothrix fungus enters your body through a break in your skin and causes a disease called sporotrichosis. At first, you will have a small lump. But within a few weeks, the fungus will spread, moving up your skin in a line as it follows your lymph nodes. Sporotrichosis can also spread throughout your body, affecting your bones, lungs, joints and even the membrane that covers your brain.
Malassezia Furfur
Dr. Timothy Berger, professor of clinical dermatology at the University of California, wrote in "Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment," that if you have the disease caused by malassezia furfur, you will see pink, tan or white spots all over your chest or back. You may not pay attention to the spots until you notice that they will not tan. In this disease, called tinea versicolor, you will usually not have any symptoms except possibly some itching, even if your immune system is impaired.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: WHO Collaborating Center for the Mycoses
- "Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment 2009"; Stephen McPhee, M.D., Maxine Papadakis, M.D.; 2009
- "Jawetz, Melnick, & Adelberg's Medical Microbiology"; George Brooks, M.D., Karen Carroll, M.D., Janet Butel, PhD, Stephen Morse, PhD; 2007
- The Merck Manual: Histoplasmosis
