Histoplasma is one of the three main species of soil fungi that cause lung infections in the U.S. Historically, Histoplasma was found in the Midwest and parts of the East, Coccidioides in the Southwest, and Blastomyces in the Midwest and the South. But a growing number of case reports and anecdotes suggest that all three have expanded out of their traditional ranges in recent decades.

“Fungal infections are much more common than people realize, and they’re spreading,” Spec said. “The scientific community has underinvested in studying and developing treatments for fungal infections. I think that’s beginning to change, but slowly. It’s important for the medical community to realize these fungi are essentially everywhere these days and that we need to take them seriously and include them in considering diagnoses.”

People develop fungal lung infections after breathing in spores from fungi in the soil. The spores become airborne when the ground is disturbed by farming, landscaping, construction or even just by people walking around in fungi-rich environments such as caves. Most healthy adults and children can fight off a fungal infection handily, but infants, older adults and people with compromised immune systems may develop fever, cough, fatigue and other symptoms. Fungal lung infections easily can be mistaken for bacterial or viral lung infections such as COVID-19, bacterial pneumonia and tuberculosis.

“People with fungal lung infection often spend weeks trying to get the right diagnosis and appropriate treatment, and the whole time they’re feeling terrible,” said lead author Patrick B. Mazi, MD, a clinical fellow in infectious diseases. “They usually have multiple health-care visits with multiple opportunities for testing and diagnosis, but the doctor just doesn’t consider a fungal infection until they’ve exhausted all other possibilities.”

Lung Granulomas and bacterial infections

Granulomas are small lumps of immune cells that form in your body in areas where there is infection or inflammation. They’re most commonly found in your lungs, but they can also be in other areas of your head and body. Doctors believe that they block the spread of organisms such as bacteria and fungi through your body.

Granulomas themselves don’t usually have noticeable symptoms. But the conditions that cause them, such as sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, histoplasmosis, and others, may create symptoms. Some of these include:

• Shortness of breath
• Wheezing
• Chest pain
• Fever
• Dry cough that won’t go away

In some cases, you may have lung granulomas that show no abnormal signs. They don’t usually need treatment or other testing.

Granulomas are usually accidently found through X-rays or other tests when doctors look for other health issues. At first, they may look dangerous on imaging tests, but they’re usually noncancerous

Histoplasmosis caused granulomas: Granulomas will form to stop the spread of the fungus. If you have histoplasmosis, you may never have symptoms. But for people with weak immune systems, it can be serious. In rare cases, a granuloma doesn’t heal and the lung tissue around it can scar (pulmonary fibrosis). Or the air tubes in your lungs (bronchi) can form pockets and get infected. When this happens, there isn’t a cure, but there are treatments that can ease your symptoms.

Granulomas on your lungs usually heal themselves and go away. The best way to control lung granulomas is to care for the health issues that cause them.

Links:

• https://medicine.wustl.edu/news/lung-infections-caused-by-soil-fungi-are-a-problem-nationwide/
• https://scitechdaily.com/nationwide-problem-serious-lung-infections-caused-by-soil-fungi/
• https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/diseases/histoplasmosis/maps.html
• https://www.webmd.com/lung/lung-granulomas#:~:text=Histoplasmosis.%20A%20fungus%20that%20