Aspergillosis

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**Aspergillosis**
*Classification & external resources*

Histopathologic image of pulmonary invasive aspergillosis in a patient with interstitial pneumonia. Autopsy material. Grocott's methenamine silver stain.
MedlinePlus	001326
eMedicine	med/174

Aspergillosis is the name given to a wide variety of diseases caused by the genus of fungi Aspergillus. The most common forms are allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, pulmonary aspergilloma and invasive aspergillosis. Compromised immune systems often allow Aspergillus to colonize.

1 Diagnosis
2 Treatment
3 Notable Outbreaks
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Diagnosis

On chest X-ray and computed tomography pulmonary aspergillosis classically manifests as an air crescent sign.^[1]

[edit] Treatment

The drugs amphotericin B, caspofungin, flucytosine, itraconazole and voriconazole^[2] are used to treat this fungal infection.

[edit] Notable Outbreaks

Aspergillosis has been the culprit in several recent rapid die-offs among waterfowl. From December 8-14, 2006 over 2,000 Mallards died in the Burley, Idaho area, an agricultural community approximately 150 miles southeast of Boise. Moldy waste grain from the farmland and feedlots in the area is the suspected source. A similar aspergillosis outbreak killed 500 mallards in Iowa in 2005. Moldy grain was the cause in that case.

Mallards and other ducks are particularly susceptible to Aspergillosis as they will often resort to poor food sources during bad weather.

Albeit relatively rare in humans, aspergillosis is a common and dangerous infection in birds, particularly in pet parrots and parakeets.

While there is no connection between Aspergillosis and the H5N1 strain of Avian Influenza (commonly called "bird flu"), the rapid die-offs it causes can spark fears of a bird-flu outbreak in the communities where the die-offs occur. There is no outwardly visible sign off the fungal infection as the cause; laboratory analysis is the only way to prove or disprove bird-flu or Aspergillosis.

[edit] References

^ Curtis A, Smith G, Ravin C (Oct 1979). "Air crescent sign of invasive aspergillosis.". Radiology 133 (1): 17-21. PMID 472287.
^ Herbrecht R, Denning D, Patterson T, Bennett J, Greene R, Oestmann J, Kern W, Marr K, Ribaud P, Lortholary O, Sylvester R, Rubin R, Wingard J, Stark P, Durand C, Caillot D, Thiel E, Chandrasekar P, Hodges M, Schlamm H, Troke P, de Pauw B; Invasive Fungal Infections Group of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer and the Global Aspergillus Study Group. (Aug 8 2002). "Voriconazole versus amphotericin B for primary therapy of invasive aspergillosis.". N Engl J Med 347 (6): 408-15. PMID 12167683.