introduction to fungal infections- daphne

Introduction: Fungal Infections

Fungi and yeasts are multi-celled plants that are parasites. An everyday example of a fungus is mushrooms. However, the fungi that cause human disease are usually very small fungi. There are a few common human fungal conditions that are rarely harmful except for those with severely weakened immune systems. (Source: WD Writers)
A fungus is actually a primitive vegetable. Fungi can be found in air, in soil, on plants, and in water. Thousands, perhaps millions, of different types of fungi exist on Earth. The most familiar ones to us are mushrooms, yeast, mold, and mildew. Some live in the human body, usually without causing illness. In fact, only about half of all types of fungi cause disease in humans. Those conditions are called mycoses. (Source: excerpt from Microbes in Sickness and in Health - Publications, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases: NIAID)

Definitions of Fungal Infections:

A kingdom of eukaryotic, heterotrophic organisms that live as saprobes or parasites, including mushrooms, yeasts, smuts, molds, etc. They reproduce either sexually or asexually, and have life cycles that range from simple to complex. Filamentous fungi refer to those that grow as multicellular colonies (mushrooms and molds).

Symptoms of fungal infections
Some of the symptoms of Fungal infections incude:

-Alopecia : various types of hair loss or balding
-Annular lesions
-Pustules : Small elevated pus containing lesion of the skin.
-Rash
-Onycholysis : Loosening or loss of part or all of nail.

Name and Aliases of Fungal Infections:

Main name of condition: Fungal infections
Other names or spellings for Fungal infections:
Fungi, Fungus, Fungal disease, Fungal diseases, Fungal condition, Fungal conditions, Mycoses, Mycosis, fungi, fungus Source - WD Writers

Types of Fungal Infections:

Subtypes of Fungal infections: Candida, Vaginal Candidiasis, Oral thrush, Athlete's foot, Tinea, Yeast infections, Ringworm, Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, Aspergillosis, Cryptococcal, Meningitis, Fungal nail infections, Histoplasmosis, invasive candidiasis, Mycetoma, Cryptococcosis, Sporotrichosis, Pityriasis Versicolor, Zygomycosis

Disease Category: Parasite.fungal

Parasite.fungal: Diseases caused by fungi Introduction: Fungi and yeasts are multi-celled plants that are parasites. An everyday example of a fungus is mushrooms. However, the fungi that cause human disease are usually very small fungi. There are a few common human fungal conditions that are rarely harmful except for those with severely weakened immune systems. Some examples are Candida (thrush), Yeast infections, Tinea (Athlete's foot), and Ringworm.

Risk Factors for Fungal infections

Risk factors for Fungal infections are factors that do not seem to be a direct cause of the disease, but seem to be associated in some way. Having a risk factor for Fungal infections makes the chances of getting a condition higher but does not always lead to Fungal infections. The list of risk factors mentioned for Fungal infections in various sources includes: Damaged skin, Moist skin, Broad-spectrum antibiotics, Immunocompromise, AIDS and Chronic disease.