Lung Infections From Soil Fungi Are Becoming a Serious Threat

According to SciTechDaily, soil fungi Histoplasma can lead to several critical lung infections. This is the case in 48 states, the District of Columbia, and other places that were perceived to be exempted from this deadly fungi.

Histoplasma: Deadly Soil Fungi

Histoplasma can be found in the soil of both eastern and central states in the US, according to the CDC. However, such findings are reportedly based on obsolete research from the 1950s to 1960s, as reported by Gizmodo.

Gizmodo mentions that in reality, these fungi can be spotted throughout the entire country. Whenever someone inhales the fungi's spores, this person can be infected with what is known as histoplasmosis.

Incident Reports of Histoplasma and Histoplasmosis

Associate professor Andrej Spec mentions in a press release that he keeps on receiving calls from Boston-based doctors every few weeks. These calls usually involve cases that these doctors find the case hard to deal with. Spec mentions that these doctors usually start by mentioning how Histoplasma isn't present in their area but the signs reflect that of histoplasmosis.

Spec mentions that he tells them that they keep on ringing him about these cases and that they do have Histoplasma in their region.

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Prevalence of Fungal Infections

Gizmodo also notes what Spec states about how fungal infections are more prevalent than perceived. Spec also expresses how the scientific community lacked investment in the study and development of fungal infection treatments. He thinks that though the pace is slow, the trend is changing.

Climate change may also be a contributing factor to the spread of this fungal infection, as fungi get nurtured in warm temperatures.

Infections due to Histoplasma can be handled easily in adults that are healthy. However, those with compromises to their immunity may experience severe conditions, such as fever, body aches, cough, and fatigue.

In most cases, people infected start exhibiting symptoms around 3 to 17 days from the exposure. It also usually takes a month for the symptoms to leave.

However, if the infection reaches the lungs or other organs, the person may experience a severe case and would need months to recuperate.

The Rise of Lung Infections Due To Soil Fungi

According to SciTechDaily, Histoplasma is among the three soil fungi that are the leading causes of lung infections in the United States.

SciTechDaily also notes that researchers computed the incident infection count from the years 2007 up to 2016. They also computed the case number every 100,000 person-years in each county.

Among the 3,143 counties from all over the US, 1,806 had significant incident counts of lung infections brought by the top three soil fungi, including Histoplasma. These counties were from most parts of the US.

Their findings also reflected that in these 50 states and DC, 94% reportedly had one or more counties that had problems with lung infections caused by Histoplasma.

These numbers show how prevalent and widespread fungal infections are. SciTechDaily also notes Spec's sentiments regarding how the medical circle should acknowledge how prevalent these fungi are and that they should be taken seriously and considered when giving diagnoses.