Sporotrichosis ,also known as rose gardener’s disease,is a fungal disease caused by sporothrix schenckii; a dimorphic fungus.It is associated with minor cuts and scrapes that occur while handling vegetation (moss,hay,rose bushes,wood).
Symptoms:
It causes local pustule or ulcer with nodules along the draining lymphatics.The lesions are typically painless and there is systemic illness.There is ascending infection.
The first symptom is usually a small painless nodule (bump) resembling an insect bite. The first nodule may appear any time from 1 to 12 weeks after exposure to the fungus. The nodule can be red, pink, or purple in color, and it usually appears on the finger, hand, or arm where the fungus has entered through a break in the skin. The nodule will eventually become larger in size and may look like an open sore or ulcer that is very slow to heal. Additional bumps or nodules may appear later near the original lesion.Untreated ulcers may wax and wane for years.
Prevention:
There is no vaccine to prevent sporotrichosis.
You can reduce your risk of sporotrichosis by wearing protective clothing such as gloves and long sleeves when handling wires, rose bushes, bales of hay, pine seedlings, or other materials that may cause minor cuts or punctures in the skin. It is also advisable to avoid skin contact with sphagnum moss.
Diagnosis:
It is typically diagnosed when a swab or a biopsy of the infected site is obtained and sent to a laboratory for a fungal culture.
- In clinical laboratory,round or cigar-shaped budding years are seen in tissue specimens.
- In culture at room temperature, hyphae occur bearing oval conidia in clusters at the tip of slender conidiophores(resembling a daisy).
Serological tests are not always useful in the diagnosis of sporotrichosis due to limitations in sensitivity and specificity.
Treatment:
The usual treatment for sporotrichosis is oral itraconazole (Sporanox) for about three to six months; other treatments include supersaturated potassium iodide and amphotericin B in patients with more severe disease.
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