Hello friends how are you guys all doing, hope you are all doing great. Well due to unexpected and unforseen events I haven't been frequent with my posts and have also failed not to post the second part of this article immediately after the first one as promised,my apologies and I promise to feed you henceforth with more educative and great articles.
Now,if you can recall we look at mycotic infections, their causative organisms and the different type of mycoses. meanwhile in this article we will be discussing in details the different individual systemic mycoses. sit tight as I take through the mycotic world !
HISTOPLASMOSIS
Histoplasma capsulatum is the fungus that cause this disease, as expected it is dimorphic exist as moulds in the soil and avian excreta and as yeast intracellular. It is the most common respiratory mycotic infection.
How does histoplasmosis occur? H.capsulatum produce spores(microconidia),when these spore are inhaled they move to the aveoli and here macrophages of the reticuloendothelia system are affected and thus a granulomatous lesions develop.
It is asymptomatic and may be confuse with tuberculosis as patients may have severe coughing and haemoptysis(coughing of blood). they are known to cause mediastinitis and pneumonia.
COCCIDIOIDOMYCOSIS
this fungal infection is caused by COCCIDIOIDES IMMITIS a dimorphic imperfecti. this disease is also initiated in the respiratory tract and can be diseminated to other infections. C.POSADASII is another specie that also caused coccidioidomycosis. patient are also infected by inhalation of spores. it is called VALLEY FEVER and it is one of, if not the most infectious of all fungal diseases.
PARACOCCIDIOIDOMYCOSES
This is a mycotic infection caused by a thermally dimorphic fungus called PARACOCCIDIOIDES BRASILIENSIS and this disease is endemic in central and south america, no wonder it is also called SOUTH AMERICAN BLASTOMYCOSIS. It has a similar pathogenesis with histoplamosis and coccidioidomycosis. Do you know that the fungus that cause this disease is not cultured in the sabround dextrose agar but in Brain heart infusion agar and it exist as yeast invitro unlike other fungi.
BLASTOMYCOSES
Known also as GILCHRIST DISEASE and is caused byBLASTOMYCES DERMATITIDIS which is the sole agent. it enter the body either by respiratory route or trans-cutaneously(wound caused by plant thorns). these diseases are prevalent among middle age men,owing to men higher or much occupational and recreational exposure to soil. so guys be careful the way you expose yourself to soil, hahahaha. it is also asymptomatic.
CANDIDIASIS
Our skin,gut,mouth and female vagina are inhabited by CANDIDA ALBICANS that are opportunistic fungi, they only cause illness in immunocompromised individuals. they are harmless to us and are part of the microbiota of our skin,gut and vagina etc. when candidiasis occur it simply means that these fungi have uncontrollably grow and are now excess and causing problems were they are, pain and inflammations are their common symptoms. these fungi are yeasts.
these fungi are very lethal and deadly when they gets into the bloosdstream because they cause death.
The yeast is already there.....
unlike other mycotic(systemic) that are introduce into the body through various routes,these fungi are already present in our body since birth. what went wrong...? these fungi normally live with bacteria as normal flora of the body in different region,but what exactly went wrong that they are now harmful?...there are many factors that may cause or induce their pathogenic nature but the leading cause is the OVERUSE OF ANTIBIOTICS.
Most times, whenever we are ill we consume antibiotics wrecklessly without following prescription, these antibiotics we consume destroy these bacteria that live with these fungi thereby providing much environment for these fungi to outgrow their normal population. other factors may include washing out (excessive washing of those areas)of fungu in our vaginal or mouths. they are the most common form of mycoses,females are more aware of candidiasis because they are mostly affected(in their vagina).
ASPERGILLOSIS
this disease refers to a spectrum of disease conditions that maybe induced by a number of aspergillus species e.g aspergillus niger, aspergillus flavus and aspergillus fumigatus. they are contacted through inhalation as well and may illicit in certain people immediate hypersensitivity.
These fungi are not pathogenic but can only cause harm in immunocompromised patients, factors that predispose patients to this state include,cancer,leukaemia,lymphoma and granulocytopenia etc. as such patients with this risk factors are protected with filtered air and are kept in positive pressure rooms to monitor the air going in and out.
CRYPTOCOCCOSIS
An encapsulated yeast called CRYPTOCOCCUS NEOFORMANS caused this disease. it is found in the soil and faeces of birds and is also contacted through airborne exposure, they metastasize( move) into virtually any organ in the body but prefer the CNS. although they are ubiquitous in nature in nature but their incidence is very low,this is to show that many persons inhale the yeast cells but become affected when their immune system is down. cryptococcosis is known to cause meningitis when it affects the brain.
ANTIFUNGAL DRUGS ACTION(CHEMOTHERAPY)
WHO(1966) define DRUG, as any substance that is used or is intended to be used to modify or explore physiological or pathological states for the benefits of the recipients. Drugs that do not exhibit selective toxicity is not a drug but POISON. selective toxicity means that a drug will kill the microbes it is intended to and not the host cells. As I chiped in initially antifungal drugs act by damaging fungi cell membrane and cell wall and do not affect that of their host cells.
These antifungal drugs include caspofungi,terbinafine,ketoconazole,amphotericin B,griseofulvin and flucosytosine. they act at different sites of the fungi there by causing fungistatic or fungicidal effects. Amphotericin is the best antifungal drugs for systemic mycoses though it can cause other adverse side effects.
IN CONCLUSION
Mycotic infections are indeed stubborn because they asymptomatic and takes longer time to be treated and hence the need to daignose and begin to treat it on time. whenever we are suffering from an unknown illness and after many medications it is advisable to go for fungi study. No doubt you will agree with me that preventing mycotic(systemic) infections is not easy because they are ubiquitous and infectious through airborne route, methods of prevention will include a good and simple hygiene habits. Mycotic infections are stubborn but with a smart atitude we can defeat them.
thanks for reading till the end hope you learnt something new today until next time . bye!