Cryptococcus gattii
A potentially deadly strain of fungus is spreading among animals and people in the northwestern United States and the Canadian province of British Columbia, researchers reported on Thursday.
The airborne fungus, called Cryptococcus gattii, usually only infects transplant and AIDS patients and people with otherwise compromised immune systems, but the new strain is genetically different, the researchers said.
“This novel fungus is worrisome because it appears to be a threat to otherwise healthy people,” said Edmond Byrnes of Duke University in North Carolina, who led the study.
“The findings presented here document that the outbreak of C. gattii in Western North America is continuing to expand throughout this temperate region,” the researchers said in their report, published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Pathogens at http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1000850.
“Our findings suggest further expansion into neighboring regions is likely to occur and aim to increase disease awareness in the region.”
The new strain appears to be unusually deadly, with a mortality rate of about 25 percent among the 21 U.S. cases analyzed, they said.Read Full Article
Ore. DHS questions article statements about deadly fungus
The Oregon Department of Human Services disputed some statements in an MSNBC.com article Thursday about the deadliness of a fungus.
The article entitled “Deadly airborne fungus in Oregon set to spread” says that a new strain of fungus – VGIIc Cryptococcus gattii – is spreading in the state of Oregon and has killed about 1 in 4 people who have been infected.
It quotes a Duke University researcher by the name of Edmond Byrnes III: “This novel fungus is worrisome because it appears to be a threat to otherwise healthy people. Typically, we more often see this fungal disease associated with transplant recipients and HIV-infected patients, but that is not what we are seeing yet.”
Patty Wentz, a spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Human Services, said that is just plain wrong.
“It’s a very rare disease,” she said Thursday evening. “It does not affect otherwise healthy people. It affects people who are already ill from other causes like respiratory disease, asthma and transplant patients.”
She stressed that it is a “very, very rare” disease.
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If C. gattii fungus disseminates via the air throughout America causing infections, resulting medical cost for the nation might be unaffordable. This fungus in addition to attacking the lungs and an array of other bodily functions can cause meningitis, encephalitis, meningoencephalitis and brain lesions. Medical treatment previously for gattii fungus among others, consisted of prolonged intravenous therapy (for 6-8 weeks or longer) with the anti-fungal drug Amphotericin in its conventional or lipid formulation. Consequently other kinds medication might have to be administered in light of the (C. gattii fungus) apparently mutating. Previously patients treated for gattii fungus that survived after medical treatments might be administered oral fluconazole for six months or more. It is hard to image that Americans, even with medical insurance could pay the medical treatment costs; especially if they spend six months in a hospital.
how should we feel and what should everyone think as why this fungus started. and i read something on line about the new seeds GMO could be a reason . i don’t know and i think maybe terrorist i have thought of many things. i just don’t know….. ALL i do know we all have to breathe. and i just hope something can and will be done before it is to late to react and if anything can be done. but not too much has been said about this fungus on the local news but plenty on line. i just don’t know what to think as of right now i have both asthma and i have sle lupus so i at this time am not feeling too happy about this new fungus.america just isn’t safe from anything anymore i will not panic i do know this…. it won’t change a thing if i die or live if i get this fungus but i do wish america did not have to deal with such a thing and i think of all the infants and children.a little newborn child would not be strong enough i fear this. just hope something can be found to stop or help from this killer fungus so no more lives are lost. and find the cause of the fungus or what is needed to end the cause of the fungus.a friend of mine said it is a terrorist attack aganist the U.S.A. i sure hope not … i just don’t know and have many thoughts but really don’t know with so many thoughts running through my head. we just can’t panic it never helps… only makes things worse we all need to stay calm if any systoms go straight to our doctor and pray this fungus is stopped some way. the last post spoke of medical costs america has been hit hard in many ways. six months out of work would be hard alot have lost homes ,pets,jobs, and their marriage due to hard times right here in america already. it seems the hard times keep bring the america people down. we use to be proud and never gave up…. and hope that we can be proved the same now. people use to help each other and stand up for one another. america has always opened our land to all who wanted to be free.