Sporotrichosis

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Sporotrichosis is a fungal disease, usually of the skin, caused by a microscopic fungus called Sporothrix schenckii. Anyone can get the disease but people conduct thorny plants, sphagnum moss or baled hay contaminated with this particular fungus are at increased risk. Outbreaks have happen among nursery workers handling sphagnum moss, rose gardeners, children playing on baled hay and greenhouse workers handling barberry thorns impure by the fungus. The fungus enters throughout small cuts or pricks from pine needles, thorns or barbs. Fortunately, it is not extend from person to person.

The first symptom is a small pink, red or mauve painless bump resembling an insect bite. The bump, or lesion, generally appear on the finger, hand or arm where the fungus first entered through a break in the skin. This is followed by the exterior of one or more additional raised bumps or nodules which open and may resemble a boil. Eventually, the skin lesions look like boil and are very slow to heal. The skin lesions may appear one to 12 weeks after contact but usually within three weeks. Sporotrichosis can be confirmed when a doctor obtain a swab of a freshly opened skin nodule and submits it to a laboratory for fungal civilization.

The diagnosis can also be verified by a blood or biopsy specimen. It is important for the diagnosis to be established by a doctor so that proper treatment can be provided. As a free service, the New York State Department of Health's Wadsworth Center for Laboratories and Research is accessible to conduct diagnostic and confirmatory laboratory testing. Sporotrichosis is usually treated with iodides taken orally in droplet form, which must be agreed by a doctor. Treatment is often extended over a number of weeks. The vast majority of the infections are partial to the skin. Cases of joint, lung and central nervous system infection have occur but are very rare and usually happen only in people with diabetes or other disorders of the immune system.

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