Histoplasma infection poses
deadly risk to HIV, other immune-compromised patients
Date: June 2, 2016
Source: The Translational
Genomics Research Institute
A fungal infection associated
with a high percentage of deaths among HIV and other immune-compromised
patients is more diverse than previously known and likely spread around the
world by bats.
A global assessment of the fungus Histoplasma by
the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) found that the pathogen is
actually divided among six species, and that its spread and speciation from
continent-to-continent over the past 9 million years coincides with the global
dispersal and evolution of bats.
Published in the scientific
journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, TGen's study of 234 samples of Histoplasma
capsulatum from around the world used the latest in genetic sequencing to
characterize the differences between various species of this fungus. The study
estimates a timeframe for its evolution, based on the average rate of genetic
mutations.
"We need to better
understand this disease so we can be better prepared for infectious outbreaks,
and to see its relationship to similar fungal infections, such as Valley
Fever," said Dr. Bridget Barker, TGen Assistant Professor of Pathogen
Genomics and the senior author of this study. "There currently is no cure
and no vaccine for this disease."
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