Fuentes de infeccion de histoplasmosis en la Isla de la Juventud, Cuba

Histoplasma capsulatum is responsible for histoplasmosis, a fungal disease with worldwide distribution that can affect both immunocompromised and imunocompetent individuals. During the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era, morbidity and mortality due to histoplasmosis remained a public heatlh problem in low-income and high-income countries. The true burden of HIV-associated histoplasmosis is either not fully known or neglected since it is not a notifiable disease. Progress has been made in DNA patterns of strains and understanding of pathogenesis, and hopefully these will help identify new therapeutic targets. Unfortunately, histoplasmosis is still widely mistaken for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, leading to numerous avoidable deaths, even if they are easily distinguishable. The new diagnostic tools and therapeutics developments have still not been made available in most endemic regions. Still, recent developments are promising because of their good clinical characteristics and also because they will be commercially available and affordable. This review of published data and gaps may help define and guide future research.

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Epidemiology of histoplasmosis in the French West Indies (Martinique)

Garsaud¹,

Boisseau‐Garsaud²,

Desbois

et al. 1999

Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygi

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The Caribbean islands are presumed to be an endemic zone for Histoplasma capsulatum infection, but no epidemiological studies have been done in this area. Our purpose was to report the epidemiology of histoplasmosis from 1991 to 1997 in the French West Indies (Martinique). Cases identified from the register of the mycology laboratory were analysed retrospectively. Ten cases (9 male and 1 female) were identified; 8 of the patients were infected with HIV (average T4 lymphocyte count in these 8 patients was 32/mm3). Eight patients had cutaneous involvement. The incidence in AIDS patients was 1.7%. The annual incidence in the general population was 0.34/100,000. Our data showed that histoplasmosis is endemic in Martinique, with an incidence in AIDS patients slightly inferior to that in endemic areas of the USA. The high rate of cutaneous forms (80%) is uncommon.

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Fuentes de infeccion de histoplasmosis en la Isla de la Juventud, Cuba

Cited by 6 publications

References 3 publications

Disorders of the Liver Excluding Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E

Disorders of the Liver Excluding Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E

Histoplasmosis in HIV-Infected Patients: A Review of New Developments and Remaining Gaps

Epidemiology of histoplasmosis in the French West Indies (Martinique)

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