histoplasmosis
The definitions used in this glossary of terminology either have been provided by the authors of the articles, or have been extracted wholly or in part, or paraphrased from the following sources: The American Medical Association Encyclopedia of Medicine, Charles B. Clayman, MD, Medical Editor, Random House, New York, 1989; Biotechnology from A to Z, 2d Edition, William Bains, Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 2002; A Dictionary of Genetics, 6th Edition, Robert C. King and William D. Stansfield, Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 2002; Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary, 29th and 30th Editions, W. B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, 2000, 2003; Genes VII, Benjamin Lewin, Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 2000; The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders, Volumes I and II, Stacey L. Blachford, Ed., Thomson Learning, New York, New York, 2002; The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Inc., Springfield, Massachusetts, 1997; Molecular Biology of the Cell, 3rd Edition, Bruce Alberts, et al., Garland Publishing, 1994; The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged Edition, 1966; Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1991.
DEFINITION:
- histoplasmosis
-
Infection resulting from inhalation, or sometimes ingestion, of spores of Histoplasma capsulatum, a fungus found in soil, particularly areas contaminated with droppings from birds or bats. Histoplasmosis occurs in the central and southern United States and in parts of South America, the Far East, and Africa.
It is usually asymptomatic, i.e., most people who inhale the spores are not affected by them. The rare cases of infection occur either in people who are exposed to large quantities of the spores (such as pigeon handlers) or in people whose resistance to infection has been lowered (for example, by an immunodeficiency disorder, such as AIDS).
Symptoms and Treatment
The most common form of histoplasmosis is an acute illness (marked by breathlessness, cough, and joint pains) that usually clears up on its own. However, in some people (mainly in those with a low resistance to infection) the disease takes a chronic form and spreads throughout the body, resulting in fever, loss of weight, mouth ulcers, enlargement of the spleen and liver (hepatosplenomegaly), and lymph nodes, failure of the adrenal glands, and anemia. Treatment with the antifungal drugs amphotericin B or ketoconazole is usually effective. In severe, untreated cases, the disease may be fatal (it causes about 50 to 100 deaths in the US each year). (In a few cases it may cause acute pneumonia, and disseminated reticuloendothelial hyperplasia, or an influenzalike illness with joint effusion and erythema nodosum. Reactivated infection, such as in immunocompromised patients, involves the lungs, meninges, heart, peritoneum, and adrenals, in that order of frequency.) Called also Darling's disease.
Used in 4 Term definitions
Used in 4 Term definitions