Paracoccidioidomycosis

Abstract

Paracoccidioidomycosis is a fungal infection that is relatively common in Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Argentina. Sporadic cases can also be seen in some other countries. It is caused by a dimorphic fungus, Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, which affects mainly the skin, lymph nodes, lungs, and oral, nasal, and gastrointestinal mucous membranes. Depending on the specific immunity of the host, the infection can assume many forms and affect single or multiple organs, eventually becoming a severe and even fatal disease. It is very important for dermatologists of all over the world to know about paracoccidioidomycosis because sometimes the disease only manifests many years after the individual has left the endemic area.

Serious fungal infections in Ecuador

“…As fungal diseases are not reportable, exact data are not available and the current number of fungal infections occurring each year in Ecuador is not known. There is dearth of data from Ecuador on the burden of these life threatening diseases entities, where only a very few groups of scientists have reported their experiences, mainly in endemic fungal diseases [3][4][5][6][7].…”

Epidemiology, Clinical, and Therapeutic Aspects of Paracoccidioidomycosis

“…Propagules such as arthroconidia and aleuroconidia produced by mycelium and present in the environment may be inhaled and are subsequently transformed into yeast, which causes primary infection in the lung [15] and is then spread by blood and lymphatic vessels, reaching different organs and systems and resulting in lesions in the skin, lymph nodes, and mucous membranes [16,17]. In addition, these propagules can induce animal infection by the respiratory route [18].…”

Paracoccidioidomycosis in the spine: case report and review of the literature

“…17 In this study, the patient presented the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the disease, which included: male gender, farm laborer in an endemic area and age over 40 years. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][17][18][19] The patient needed to have become infected during his second decade of life, when he worked in the fields for 10 years in an After 36 months, the patient was seen to be clinically asymptomatic, and his blood inflammatory markers were within the normal range. These parameters are considered to be the most important healing criteria.…”