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Anyone out there diagnosed with disseminated histoplasmosis?
Infectious Diseases | Last Active: Aug 26, 2020 | Replies (14)Comment receiving replies
My son was diagnosed with Histoplasmosis in May of 2020. He has no respiratory symptoms but has a large mass around his aorta and left lower lobe. He also has a mass on his kidney. He is miserable with the pressure. Does anyone have experience with such an issue? How long does it take for the body to absorb dead cells like this mass? He has been taking an Antifungal for 6 weeks.
Replies to "My son was diagnosed with Histoplasmosis in May of 2020. He has no respiratory symptoms but..."
Hi. I’m an adult who was treated last year at Mayo for an unidentified fungal infection/disseminated histoplasmosis. I was successfully treated with the antifungal Itraconazole. I never had any masses or pressure. My illness was discovered incidentally. My understanding is that possible sources of this type of infection include bats, chickens, and/or breathing in fungal spores from soil containing bird droppings. I wish your son the best of luck in recovering from his illness.
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@kjwestphal5, welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. You'll notice that I moved your message to this existing discussion about histoplasmosis. I did this so you can connect with @susan5051 @rosemarya @memw and others who have experience with this infection.
According to the Mayo article https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/infectious-diseases-a-z-who-is-at-risk-of-histoplasmosis-infection/, for those who develop symptoms, they usually appear three to 17 days after exposure and may include fever, chest pain, fatigue, chills, dry cough or body aches.
Complications from histoplasmosis are more likely to develop in infants, the elderly or those with weakened immune systems. Does your son fit into any of those categories? Does he work with soil?