Woman, 28, describes symptoms of new fungal disease that 'world isn't ready for'
A woman has described suffering from an unusual fungal disease that one expert has wanted could be part of a skin infection "epidemic".
The drug-resistant ringworm, also known as tinea, has affected at least two women in the US this year, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
One of two women affected, a 28-year-old, described the grim symptoms that affected her.
The unnamed patient said she experienced rashes appearing on her body in the summer of 2021. She sought medical attention in the December of that year once the scaly rashes began to spring up all over her body.
The strain of ringworm was tested by officials, which came back as Trichophyton indotineae, currently spreading through India and other parts of South Asia.
Cherished girl, 3, who spent half her life in hospital dies before surgery
Medical experts believe the disease was spread locally in the US as the woman had not been abroad shortly before the was infected.
One of the infected women was recently travelling in BangladeshA dermatologist diagnosed her with tinea and prescribed antifungal treatment in January 2022 after her baby was born, but this did not help.
A four-week course of the antifungal itraconazole eventually cleared the rash, but this made no difference to a 47-year-old woman who also had strange rashes.
The second woman from the US was forced to seek medical assistance on three separate occasions in the latter part of 2022 when she got rashes while travelling in Bangladesh.
Two four-week courses of medication did some good, but around 20 per cent of the rash-affected areas remained.
Some fungi is becoming more resilient to treatment (Getty Images)Rashes also appeared in the form of widespread, scaly ring-like rashes on the thighs and buttocks of her husband and son.
Health experts have said fungal infections are often resistant to medication and they are becoming more common in people amid warmer temperatures caused by climate change.
Fungal infections not responding to treatments may also be caused by the overuse of medication, making fungus more resistant.
The ringworm infection can be transmitted through skin-to-skin contact and is usually found in children, but anyone can become infected.
David Denning, Professor of Infectious Diseases in Global Health at the University of Manchester, said the "world is not yet prepared" for what will become an epidemic of skin infections due to higher temperatures driven by climate change and resistant medication.
Doctor warns about using bath bombs and debunks intimate health myth in shower
He added: "There are not enough such laboratories, but there are rapid tests for resistance commercially available. The world is not yet prepared for what will likely become a slowly evolving epidemic of these skin infections.”
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
