ABSTRACT
A statewide survey of populations in proximity to blackbird roost sites to determine exposure to histoplasmosis from such sites has demonstrated that a site harboring Histoplasma capsulatum, even though undisturbed, adds significantly to the exposure rate of proximal populations. Disturbance of such a site increases the exposure rate dramatically with or without concurrent clinical cases of histoplasmosis.
Subject(s)
Bird Diseases/transmission , Histoplasmosis/transmission , Adult , Animals , Birds , Child , Child, Preschool , Histoplasma/isolation & purification , Histoplasmin/immunology , Humans , Infant , Population Surveillance , Rural Population , Skin Tests , Soil MicrobiologySubject(s)
Histoplasmin/immunology , Histoplasmosis/epidemiology , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Histoplasmosis/immunology , Humans , Intradermal Tests , Kentucky , Middle AgedSubject(s)
Birds/microbiology , Histoplasmosis/transmission , Animals , Histoplasmosis/epidemiology , Humans , United StatesSubject(s)
Histoplasmosis/epidemiology , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Histoplasmosis/immunology , Humans , Infant , Kentucky , Male , Mass Screening , Middle Aged , Skin TestsSubject(s)
Aspergillosis/epidemiology , Blastomycosis/epidemiology , Histoplasmosis/epidemiology , Lung Diseases, Fungal/epidemiology , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Child , Diagnosis, Differential , Female , Humans , Kentucky , Lung Diseases, Fungal/diagnosis , Male , Middle Aged , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/diagnosisABSTRACT
These experiments demonstrate that susceptibility to Histoplasma infection of the mouse is dramatically influenced by genetic and immunologic factors, and that these factors appear to exert little influence on response to therapy. They further demonstrate that such influence may vary in different visceral organs. The explanation for these observations remains to be elucidated.
Subject(s)
Histoplasmosis/immunology , Amphotericin B/therapeutic use , Animals , Antilymphocyte Serum/adverse effects , Female , Histoplasma/isolation & purification , Histoplasma/pathogenicity , Histoplasmosis/drug therapy , Histoplasmosis/genetics , Histoplasmosis/mortality , Immunosuppression Therapy , Liver/microbiology , Lung/microbiology , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mice, Inbred Strains , Species Specificity , Spleen/microbiologySubject(s)
Histoplasmosis/etiology , Lung Diseases, Fungal/etiology , Acute Disease , Animals , Disease Models, Animal , Dogs , Haplorhini , Humans , MacacaSubject(s)
Histoplasma/pathogenicity , Histoplasmosis/veterinary , Mice, Inbred Strains/immunology , Animals , Histoplasma/isolation & purification , Histoplasmosis/immunology , Injections, Intraperitoneal , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL/immunology , Mice, Inbred CBA/immunology , Species Specificity , Spleen/microbiology , VirulenceABSTRACT
Male rhesus monkeys were randomized into groups according to body weight, immunized with different Histoplasma capsulatum antigens, and two weeks later were infected intratracheally with 10(8)H. capsulatum yeast cells. Complement fixation antibody titers, skin tests, and chest X rays were performed at weekly intervals from immunization until autopsy, at which time the spleens were cultured and the lungs and other organs were dissected. Pulmonary cavities were found in 33% of the animals, and extrapulmonary dissemination was present in 85% of the animals. Delayed hypersensitivity and circulating antibody activity was detected in all animals at some time during the experimental period; however, animals which developed pulmonary cavities had a longer period before circulating antibodies were detected than animals which did not develop pulmonary cavities. Delayed hypersensitivity developed at approximately the same time in both cavitary and noncavitary animals. Early appearance of delayed hypersensitivity was associated with reduced amounts of extrapulmonary dissemination, in that animals with a later onset of skin test reactivity had more H. capsulatum cultured from the spleen. There was no correlation between the onset or titers of circulating antibodies and the spleen culture results.
