Pythium insidiosum: an overview.
Summary of "Pythium insidiosum: an overview."
Pythium insidiosum is an oomycete pathogenic in mammals. The infection occurs mainly in tropical and subtropical areas, particularly in horses, dogs and humans. Infection is acquired through small wounds via contact with water that contains motile zoospores or other propagules (zoospores or hyphae). The disease, though described as emerging has in fact already been described since 1884. Depending on the site of entry, infection can lead to different forms of pythiosis i.e. a cutaneous, vascular, ocular, gastrointestinal and a systemic form, which is rarely seen. The infection is not contagious; no animal-animal or animal-human transmission has been reported so far. Therapy includes radical surgery, antifungal drugs, immunotherapy or a combination of these therapies. The prevention to contract the disease in endemic areas is difficult. Avoiding stagnant waters could be of help, although the presence of P. insidiosum on grass and soil in enzootic areas renders this practice useless.
Affiliation
Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
Journal Details
This article was published in the following journal.
Name: Veterinary microbiology
ISSN: 1873-2542
Pages: 1-16
Links
- PubMed Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20800978
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vetmic.2010.07.019
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Pythiosis
A granulomatous disease caused by the aquatic organism PYTHIUM insidiosum and occurring primarily in horses, cattle, dogs, cats, fishes, and rarely in humans. It is classified into three forms: ocular, cutaneous, and arterial.
Pythium
A genus of destructive root-parasitic algae in the family Pythiaceae, order Peronosporales, commonly found in cultivated soils all over the world. Differentiation of zoospores takes place in a vesicle.
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
An acquired disorder characterized by recurrent symptoms, referable to multiple organ systems, occurring in response to demonstrable exposure to many chemically unrelated compounds at doses below those established in the general population to cause harmful effects. (Cullen MR. The worker with multiple chemical sensitivities: an overview. Occup Med 1987;2(4):655-61)
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