Three types of fungi that cause serious lung infections and were once thought to be limited to certain regions of the United States are now widespread.
In 1955, Histoplasma fungi are grown mainly in the soil of the Midwest and in parts of the East and South, and where histoplasmosis infection occurs most. And Medicare records from 2007 through 2016 indicate that 47 states and Washington, D.C. have had cases of histoplasmosis above a certain threshold, the researchers report on November 11 Clinical infectious diseases.
These fungi are now “a lot more common than we think they are,” says Andrej Spec, an infectious disease physician and mycologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Doctors using maps from the 1950s and ’60s have been able to detect infections in patients who live outside the historical boundaries of the fungus. Such missed or delayed diagnoses can have fatal consequences.
Spec and college maps have been updated Histoplasma cases and for two other fungi whose ranges have expanded, probably due to climate change.
A case of coccidioidomycosis, caused by Coccidioides The fungus, from its 1955 roots in the South, has spread to 35 states, Medicare records show. Coccidioides fungi, which include the cause of valley fever (SN: 11/29/21). Wildfires occur when fevers rise in the valleys in recent years (SN: 4/13/21).
like Histoplasma, Blastomyces it was primarily found in the Midwest and East in 1955. However, from 2007 to 2016, 40 state cases of blastomycosis were found above a certain threshold, researchers reported.
When diagnosing infections, doctors should look for teaching horses, not zebras, meaning the tests typically focus on common, not rare, infectious organisms, says Spec. “We talked about these” [fungi] like zebras… but they are not zebras. They are Clydesdales. Clydesdales are not the most common horses you see, but they are still horses.
He hopes the updated records will encourage doctors to test for fungi more often in patients with lung infections.
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