Darling's Disease: A Review
Abstract
Histoplasmosis
is primarily a pulmonary disease caused by the fungus
Histoplasma
capsulatumwith varying symptoms.The fungus is found in high concentrations in
soil contaminated with bird or bat excreta while transmission occurs via inhalation
of H. capsulatum spores from the soil. The fungal infection either is cleared
or theorganism continues to reproduce intracellularly and disseminates
throughout the body via lymphatic and hematogenous circulation. Darling, a world-leading
pathologist discovered Histoplasmosisto be a fungal infection in 1905 therefore
it is also called as Darling’s disease. Transmission occurs in areas like caves
containing bat or bird droppings, chicken coops, birdhouses, bird roosts, or
soil contaminated with such droppings. H. capsulatumcan survive in soil for
years and if the soil becomes airborne, it may cause Histoplasmosis. In
patients that are immuno suppressed, complications are mouth ulcers, fevers, headaches,
confusion, seizures, encephalopathy and infrequently, death
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