State health officials say they have received reports of 10 suspected cases of a potentially fatal deep skin fungal infection among some of those injured during last month's tornado in Joplin. In patients with traumatic injury, the fungi may cause wound infection in the injured area."Patients might experience fever. Cases of deep skin fungal infection have been previously reported after natural disasters."She said the infections cannot spread from human to human. All of the cases, she said, related to individuals who "sustained trauma from the tornado with secondary wound infections."Joplin, Mo.Having a "cluster of suspected zygomycosis infections after a natural disaster is quite unusual. Contact Beacon staff writer Robert Joiner.
Who Can Get Zygomycosis?Zygomycosis is seen most often in patients who are already ill with diseases that cause wasting, such as AIDS or poorly controlled diabetes. Recipients of organ transplants and sufferers of hematologic malignancies are also at risk.How Do You Get Zygomycosis?Zygomycosis is often caused by common fungi which can be found in soil and decaying vegetation. [2] Heavy inhalation of the Mucor spores can cause extrinsic allergic alveolitis and ultimately pulmonary fibrosis if the fungus exposure persists. [11] This rise is partially explained by better diagnostic tools, increased incidence of diabetes mellitus and use of immunosuppressive agents in the modern therapeutic era.Zygomycosis describes the infections caused by several related species of fungus that occur naturally in soil and decaying vegetable matter.
most healthy people are not affected by the fungus. However, people with compromised immune systems and trauma victims are at risk for infection from zygomycosis. Symptoms occurring in Joplin primarily occur in the sinuses: sinus congestion and pain, rhinitis (runny nose), headache, nasal irritation, fever, cough, and abdominal pain. Fungal infection is linked to natural disasters in several ways. Ruptured water and sewer lines and damaged power lines create unhealthy masses of bacteria and spread infection. If rescue workers injure themselves, they are at greater risk for infection.How can we prevent the spread of zygomycosis and other infections among ?