A fungus that normally targets roses has succeeded – as far as we know – in India – for the first time – infecting a human being.
Indian researchers write that in the magazine Medical Mycology Case Reports. The study is about a 61-year-old man from eastern India who one day reports to his doctor with vague complaints. He is tired, coughing, hoarse and has difficulty swallowing. Examination indicates that there is a pus-filled abscess next to his trachea. The doctor will remove the pus and have some of the pus analyzed. It leads to a remarkable conclusion; the abscess appears to be caused by Chondrosterium purplea fungus never before found in humans.
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Chondrosterium purple is a plant fungus. The fungus infects trees, but also very often affects roses and sometimes also conifers. But it was unknown until now that the fungus could also infect humans. “This is the first described human infection,” said researcher Soma Dutta Scientias.nl.
Mycologist
The fact that the 61-year-old Indian man whom Dutta and colleagues cite in their study was the first victim of this fungus can be explained somewhere. The man in question is a mycologist and therefore conducts research into fungi. In fact; he conducts specific research into fungi that occur under plants. “The patient, a mycologist by profession, worked for a long time with decaying material, mushrooms and various plant fungi as part of his research,” Dutta and colleagues write in their study. And so he probably is with Chondrosterium purple came into contact. How the fungus then entered the man’s body is unclear. “Possibly by inhalation,” Dutta speculates. “Or from mild trauma.” For example, think of a small wound in the skin.
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But the remarkable infection raises even more questions. For example: how can a fungus that naturally infects plants and trees succeed in infecting a human being (which is very different from a tree or rose bush)? “Perhaps climate change and various other human activities have made the fungus more adaptable to the human body,” Dutta suggests.
Higher temperatures
It’s certainly not a far-fetched scenario; mycologists have been warning for some time that climate change may lead to more fungal infections, which are increasingly also caused by fungi that we previously had little or nothing to fear from. The thinking behind it is surprisingly simple; most fungi thrive in temperatures lower than our body temperature and are thus unable to flourish in our bodies. “A fungus can thrive and multiply there if it can tolerate higher temperatures (between 35 and 37 degrees Celsius),” says Dutta. And many fungi cannot do that today. However, it is feared that when the ambient temperature rises – due to climate change – fungi will adapt to those higher temperatures and will gradually become better able to cope with our high body temperature. This could significantly increase the number of fungi that can infect humans.
No cause for concern
Of Chondrosterium purple however, the latest textbook example of this remains unclear. And that also makes it very difficult to predict whether this 61-year-old man from India will be the only or the first of many victims of Chondrosterium purple is. The researchers dare to state that with certainty Chondrosterium purple is currently rare among humans and causes problems. “And at the moment I don’t think we have to worry much about it,” says Dutta.
We should not underestimate fungi
That said, this particular, rare infection shows once again that we should not underestimate fungi and also keep a close eye on them. In addition to considerably more research on fungi, it also requires better methods to identify fungi. Because the latter certainly leaves something to be desired, as this study shows, in which doctors initially cultured the fungus in the hope of being able to identify it on the basis of external characteristics. When that failed, they had to send it to a World Health Organization research center for identification by DNA sequencing. In the end, it took some time before it was clear which fungus they were dealing with. In this case, fortunately, this had no negative consequences for the patient; while waiting for the results of the study, a broadly effective antifungal agent was used and it worked. But you can imagine that the treatment and prevention of the spread of other (multi) resistant fungal species is a lot more difficult if you cannot determine in the short term what kind of fungus you are dealing with.
Warning
In that sense, you can see this infection as a formidable warning that we need to improve research, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of fungi. That is not an unnecessary luxury. Certainly not now that their – and our – living environment is changing drastically, Dutta emphasizes once again. “Climate change is a real threat to us because it can make various non-pathogenic organisms pathogenic and thus lead to the emergence of new infections.”
Fortunately, this particular infection has a happy ending. The 61-year-old mycologist can tell it all; after doctors removed the pus, he took an antifungal drug for several weeks. He is now two years later and completely fine, the researchers write.
