Indian doctors are faced with the world’s first case of infection of a man with a parasitic fungus

Indian doctors have described the world’s first case of infection of a man with a parasitic fungus. An article about this was published in the journal Medical Mycology Case Reports.

Some time ago, a 61-year-old resident of India turned to doctors for help. The man complained of constant coughing, wheezing, difficulty swallowing, sore throat and constant fatigue, which tormented him for several months. Doctors sent him for examination, but X-ray and MRI did not reveal anything suspicious.

Then the doctors began to carefully study the results of the survey. Soon, on CT scans, doctors noticed signs of purulent inflammation in the trachea, which, after laboratory tests, was associated with a fungal infection.

To find out what kind of fungus it is, Indian doctors sent samples of it to the WHO laboratory. Experts have sequenced his DNA. And what was their surprise when they got the result. It turned out that chondrostereum purple (Chondrostereum purpureum), a known plant pathogen, settled in the trachea of ​​a man. It most commonly affects members of the rose family, including cherries and apple trees, causing “silver leaf disease”.

Doctors began to find out how the sick man lives. It turned out that he works as a mycologist. But the victim assured the doctors that he had not been in contact with chondrostereum purpurea. True, he later admitted that he was dealing with a semi-rotten plant mass, full of a wide variety of fungi. Apparently, that’s how he contracted the disease.

The man was prescribed antifungal drugs. He took medication strictly according to the scheme and was able to get rid of the parasitic fungus. There were no complications. Two years after recovery, doctors carefully examined the mycologist, but found nothing suspicious.