What are fungal infections?

Fungal Infections are often caused by common fungi found in the environment. Although most fungi are not dangerous, some types may be harmful. Of the nearly 1.5 million species of fungi, only about 300 species are known to cause infection.

Types of fungal infections include:

• Aspergillosis
• Blastomycosis
• Candidiasis
• Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever)
• Cryptococcus neoformans
• Cryptococcus gattii
• Fungal eye infections
• Histoplasmosis
• Mucormycosis
• Pneumocystis pneumonia
• Ringworm
• Sporotrichosis

Fungal infections are often transmitted through tiny spores in the air, which can be inhaled or can land on a person. Therefore, fungal infections often begin in the lungs or on the skin. People most likely to become infected are those with a weakened immune system, such as those with HIV/AIDS, those on steroids, those undergoing chemotherapy or people on antibiotics for long periods of time. This is because antibiotics eliminate not only damaging bacteria, but also healthy bacteria. In turn, this changes the balance of microorganisms in the mouth, vagina, intestines and other areas of the body, resulting in an overgrowth of fungus.

Fungi can be difficult to treat. Medicine can be directly applied to the infected area for skin and nail infections. Oral antifungal medicines are available for serious fungal infections.

Additional information may be found at these websites:

http://www.cdc.gov/fungal/diseases/index.html

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/fungalinfections.html

http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/skin/fungus.html