Blastomycosis is a systemic pyogranulomatous disease that is caused by a thermally dimorphic fungus, Blastomyces dermatitidis. it's the disease is endemic in the south-eastern and south central states of the USA, which border the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, the mid-western states and Canadian provinces bordering the Great Lakes as well as in a small area of New York and Canada adjacent to the St. Lawrence River.1 We encountered a case of blastomycosis, representing as a pulmonary manifestation after traveling around a non-endemic area and report it with a brief review of the relevant literature.
Blastomyces ; Blastomycosis* ; Canada ; Fungi ; Lakes ; Mississippi ; Ohio ; Rivers

We report a patient who presented with three months of foot pain, lytic navicular bone lesions in the foot, and a painless ipsilateral leg skin ulcer. Bone and skin biopsies revealed organisms compatible with Blastomyces. Systemic blastomycosis is very rare, especially with bone involvement in the foot.
Biopsy ; Blastomyces ; Blastomycosis* ; Foot* ; Humans ; Leg ; Skin ; Skin Ulcer

The authors surveyed the present situation for imported (introduced) mycoses from papers published in Japan by the end of December, 2001. The results revealed 31 cases of coccidioidomycosis, 33 of histoplasmosis, 17 of paracoccidioidomycosis and one of penicilliosis marneffei. In coccidioidomycosis the ages ranged from 12 to 55, for 27 males and 4 females of which 2 were fatal. For histoplasmosis, the ages ranged from 17 to 74 of which 24 cases were male and 8 female. All of the patients with paracoccidioidomycosis were infected in Latin American countries. They consisted of 15 males and 2 females, and the ages ranged from 24 to 68. A single case of penicilliosis marneffei (38 years old, male) was reported very recently. The case was complicated by AIDS and became critical. Blastomycosis has not yet been reported. This survey indicates that the number of the imported mycoses in Japan is increasing. It is necessary for the persons concerned to counter measures to cope with this situation.
Blastomycosis ; Coccidioidomycosis ; Female ; Histoplasmosis ; Humans ; Japan* ; Male ; Mycoses* ; Paracoccidioidomycosis

The authors surveyed the present situation for imported (introduced) mycoses from papers published in Japan by the end of December, 2001. The results revealed 31 cases of coccidioidomycosis, 33 of histoplasmosis, 17 of paracoccidioidomycosis and one of penicilliosis marneffei. In coccidioidomycosis the ages ranged from 12 to 55, for 27 males and 4 females of which 2 were fatal. For histoplasmosis, the ages ranged from 17 to 74 of which 24 cases were male and 8 female. All of the patients with paracoccidioidomycosis were infected in Latin American countries. They consisted of 15 males and 2 females, and the ages ranged from 24 to 68. A single case of penicilliosis marneffei (38 years old, male) was reported very recently. The case was complicated by AIDS and became critical. Blastomycosis has not yet been reported. This survey indicates that the number of the imported mycoses in Japan is increasing. It is necessary for the persons concerned to counter measures to cope with this situation.
Blastomycosis ; Coccidioidomycosis ; Female ; Histoplasmosis ; Humans ; Japan* ; Male ; Mycoses* ; Paracoccidioidomycosis

Blastomycosis, endemic in North America, has been hardly reported in Korea. We describe laboratory experience in phenotypic and molecular identification of Blastomyces dermatitidis first isolated in Korea. The patient was a 45-year-old male with pulmonary blastomycosis mimicking pulmonary tuberculosis. Diagnosis was based on culture and dimorphism combined with DNA target sequencing of internal transcribed spacers (ITS) and D1/D2 regions.
Blastomyces ; Blastomycosis ; DNA ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Aged ; North America ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

Blastomycosis is a fungal disease that is endemic in parts of North America. It is very rare in China and also commonly misdiagnosed, often as cancer or other infectious diseases. The clinical profile of a case of disseminated blastomycosis with pulmonary changes and skin ulcers was described. He had been misdiagnosed with tuberculosis, after adequate therapy with a lipid formulation of amphotericin B, followed by itraconazole, the lung and skin lesions improved. Then the five cases reported in China and literatures were reviewed. The aim of this report was to improve the knowledge regarding blastomycosis for physicians in China to avoid delaying adequate therapy.
Adult ; Blastomycosis ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; China ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Male ; Radiography ; Young Adult

The awareness of classification and differential diagnosis of deep mycoses, particularly systemic infections due to pathogenic fungal infections, is essential for the early detection on and appropriate therapy. These systemic pathogenic fungal infections such as histoplasmosis, African histoplasmosis, paracoccidioidomycosis, blastomycosis, are usually endemic in limited areas of continents of America, and Africa. A newly recognized penicilliosis due to Penicillium marneffei, a dimorphic fungus, used to be endemic in Southeast Asia, is now world-wide new threat because the increased numbers of cases have been reported in Australia, France, Italy, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and the United States. Because of the increased international visitors to the endemic areas and a significant enlargement of the populations existing in immunocompromized state, thus susceptible to systemic mycoses, we, the primary care physicians should be on the alert for the clinicopathologic aspects of the systemic mycoses to make a diagnosis early enough to institute effective therapy.
Africa ; Americas ; Asia, Southeastern ; Australia ; Blastomycosis ; Classification ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential* ; France ; Fungi ; Great Britain ; Histoplasmosis ; Humans ; Italy ; Mycoses* ; Netherlands ; Paracoccidioidomycosis ; Penicillium ; Physicians, Primary Care ; United States

Blastomyces dermatitidis is a dimorphic fungus that causes the systemic pyogranulomatous disease known as blastomycosis. Blastomycosis most often involves the lungs, skin, and may involve nearly every organ in the body. It is difficult, however, to diagnose blastomycosis in the early stage of pulmonary disease because clinical manifestations are varied from subclinical infection to acute respiratory distress syndrome. Since blastomycosis is often accompanied by granulomatous inflammation in histopathologic findings, differentiation from other etiologic diseases is important. We report a case of a 45-year-old male with pulmonary blastomycosis who had been misdiagnosed with tuberculosis for 3 months.
Asymptomatic Infections ; Blastomyces ; Blastomycosis ; Fungi ; Granuloma ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Lung ; Lung Diseases ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult ; Skin ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

OBJECTIVES: Imported systemic mycoses is a severe fungal infection that can cause diseases in healthy people. However, there is a serious lack of epidemiological data about imported systemic mycoses. Therefore, an epidemiological characterization of imported systemic mycoses in Korea was performed. METHODS: We collected health insurance data between 2008 and 2012 from the Health Insurance Corporation and analyzed the data to determine the prevalence and treatment management of imported systemic mycoses. RESULTS: The prevalence of imported systemic mycoses between 2008 and 2012 increased slowly by 0.49/100,000 to 0.53/100,000 persons. The prevalence of coccidioidomycosis increased from 0.28/100,000 in 2008 to 0.36/100,000 persons in 2012. A mean of 229.6 cases occurred each year. Children and the elderly showed higher prevalence than adults in the 20- to 59-year-old age group. The rate of infection according to region ranged from 0.18/100,000 persons in Ulsan, to 0.59/100,000 persons in Gyeonggi. The prevalence in females was higher than that in males. Inpatient treatment was 3.3% (38 cases), with 96.7% treated as outpatients. Hospitalizations cost 272.7 million won and outpatient treatments cost 111.7 million won. The treatment cost for coccidioidomycosis from 2008 to 2012 was 330.9 million won, with personal charges of 79.2 million won and insurance charges of 251.7 million won. Most of the expenses for the coccidioidomycosis treatment were for inpatient treatment. CONCLUSION: The results in this study may be a useful resource for determining the changes in the trend of imported systemic mycoses.
Adult ; Aged ; Blastomycosis ; Child ; Coccidioidomycosis ; Epidemiology ; Female ; Gyeonggi-do ; Health Care Costs ; Histoplasmosis ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Insurance ; Insurance, Health ; Korea* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mycoses* ; Outpatients ; Prevalence ; Ulsan