Fungus Amongus Flashcards
Superficial fungal infections
- Dermatophyte
- VERY common
- Require keratin
- Infect skin, hair, nails
- Spread via contact with people, animals, soil, fomites
- Tinea: corporals, cruris, capitis, pedis, unguium (onychomycosis)
- DX: KOH prep, woods lamp, culture
- Tx: oral/topical antifungals (azaleas)
Superficial fungal infections
- Malassezia
- lipophilic yeast
- Resides in keratin of skin and hair follicles
- Tinea veriscolor and seborrheic dermatitis
- Dx: KOH prep
- TX: shampoos, azalea creams, oral meds if large area involved
Superficial fungal infections
- candida
- Candidal intertrigo: large skin folds
- groin/armpit, buttocks, under pendulous breasts, panes
- KOH: pseudohyphae
- Tx: keep dry and cool, topical antifungals, systemic anti fungal if resistant to topical
What is easiest way to dx fungal infections?
- KOH
- spaghetti and meatballs
- easiest and most cost effective
KOH procedure
- clean skin with alcohol
- collect scale with 15 blade and place on slide
- KOH drop and coverslip, heat gently
- microscope
Subcutaneous fungal infections
- pathogenesis
- introduced via skin
- grows in dermis and subcutaneous tissue
- may reach bone
- orgs live in soil and live on rotting vegetation
- usually get in skin via skin prick/injury, usually stay localized to site of implantation
- MC in non-industrialized world
- aka “Madura foot”
Subcutaneous:
Sporotrichosis
- sporothrix schenkii
- “rose gardener disease”
- via skin through small cuts, scratch, puncture from thorn, barb, pine needles, wires
- Usu found on decaying vegetation, rosebushes, twigs, hay, moss, mulch-rich soil
- Not gen transmitted person to person
- Can transmit from cat to human (scratch or bite)
Subcutaneous:
Sporotrichosis
- Pathophys
- yeast travel along lymphatics
- Immunocompromised, rarely can inhale spore-laden dust, leads to disseminated disease
- Mixed pyogenic/granulomatous reaction
Subcutaneous:
Sporotrichosis
- Clinical presentation
- Gardeners, farmers, nursery workers, landscapers
- Lesion at site of scratch
- Nodules under skin along lymphatic channels
- Bone/joint destruction: subacute or chronic inflammatory arthritis 1+ joints
- Lung involvement: severe underlying chronic lung disease, pneumonia
Subcutaneous:
Sporotrichosis
- Dx
- Bx
- Culture and microscopy of infected tissue
Subcutaneous:
Sporotrichosis
- Tx
Tough to penetrate!
- Itraconazole **
- Potassium iodide solution
- oral terbinafine
- IV amphotericin if fail oral
- Sx
What are the two main kinds of systemic fungal infections?
- “true pathogens” which infect anyone
- “opportunists” which are more concerning to immunocompromised pts
What are the two “true pathogen” systemic fungal infections
- Histoplasmosis
- Coccidioidomycosis
Histoplasmosis and coccidioidomycosis
- overview
- Dimorphic: immature and mature forms, can be symptomatic in either form
- respiratory acquisition
- restricted geographic distribution: get travel history
- Infect normal hosts
- disease similar to TB
Histoplasmosis
- Organism
- Habitat of org
- Histoplasma capsulatum
- Soil/material contaminated with bird/bath droppings
- Also domestic bird droppings like chickens, starlings, etc.
- Histo belt: AR, KT, TN, WV, other parts of SE and central US. Also Africa and Australia
Histoplasmosis
- pathogenesis
- pathophys
- inhalation of spores
- spores transform to yeast in the lung, elicit cellular immunity like TB
- Those with lower immune response (infants, children, elderly) at greater risk of severe disease
Histoplasmosis
- presentation
- 90% asx
- Sx 3-14 days after exposure
- Acute: flu like sx
- maybe: dyspnea, chest pain, cough, respiratory sx
- 5-6% skin lesions and joint pain, mainly in females
Histoplasmosis
- Chronic disease
- MC in pts with underlying lung dz
- cough up blood, weight loss, malaise, fever, dyspnea
- similar to TB
Histoplasmosis
- disseminated dz
- immunocompromised
- Sx vary depending on duration of illness
- GI, CNS, Cardiac sx as progresses
- 50-60% mouth and gum pain dt mucosal ulcers**
- fatal if not treated
- 1-10% have ocular involvement, may = blind
Histoplasmosis
- Dx
- Sputum culture: positive in 10-15% acute and 60% chronic
- blood culture: 50-90% positive in progressive disseminated dz
- CXR and CT scan (looks like pneumonia)
- tissue bx
Histoplasmosis
- Tx
- MC acute infection with normal immunity will recovery without treatment
- mild sx: monitor
- Prolonged/severe sx: antifungals
- Chronic/disseminated: Amphotericin B
Coccidioidomycosis
- aka
- org
- org habitat
- “valley fever”
- coccidides immitis and occidioides posadaii
- lower Sonoran life zone: NM, TX, AZ, NV, northern Mexico and CA San Joaquin Valley. Places with a mild winter and arid summer
Coccidioidomycosis
- pathogenesis
- Inhalation of spores while outdoor (MC)
- Puncture wound with infected object
- Organ transplant/sexual transmission from infected person (rare)
Coccidioidomycosis
- pathophysiology
- In soil, grows as mold with long filaments that break off into airborne spores when soil is disturbed
- spores are small and carry hundreds of miles in the wind.
- Once inside lungs, spores reproduce, perpetuating life cycle of disease