Articles on Medical Diseases and Conditions

Entries for the ‘Mycotic Infections’ Category

Dermatophytes

The dermatophytes include a number of fungi that attack the nails and skin. A presumptive etiologic diagnosis may be made by examining scrapings of the affected area microscopically in a wet mount of 10% KOH. Calcofluor white or similar fluorescent methods enhance detection. Definitive diagnosis is by culture, usually on an all-purpose medium such as […]

Fungal Cultures

When fungal culture is indicated, the laboratory must be notified, because bacterial culture media are not generally suitable for fungi. All-purpose mycotic culture media such as Sabouraud’s agar under aerobic conditions are satisfactory for most of the systemic fungi.

Opportunistic Fungi

Other fungi may, under certain circumstances, produce visceral or systemic infection. The most common of these conditions are candidiasis, aspergillosis, and mucormycosis. Persons predisposed to infection include aged persons, cachectic or debilitated patients, persons with diseases such as AIDS or leukemia that affect the body’s immunologic mechanisms, and, most commonly, persons under treatment with certain […]

Systemic Mycoses

Certain fungi, known as the deep or systemic fungi, are characterized by involvement of visceral organs or penetrating types of infection. Besides true fungi, actinomycetes and nocardiae are bacteria that produce disease resembling deep fungal infection in many ways. These are discussed in the chapter on bacterial infections. The systemic fungi include Blastomyces dermatitidis (blastomycosis), […]