Fungus in bird droppings

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Fungus in bird droppings

causes common illness

Histoplasmosis in bird droppings

WTHI - Terre Haute,IN,USA

Last Edited: Monday, 09 Feb 2009, 10:17 AM EST

Created On: Saturday, 07 Feb 2009, 6:43 PM EST

http://www.wthitv.com/dpp/news/news_wthi_terrehaute_histoplasmosis_200

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Rondrell

OBLONG, Ill (WTHI) - Lowry from Oblong, Ill. got very sick

while going to school at Indiana State just a few months ago. And her

parents were very concerned.

" We kind of were just lucky that she was complaining of stomach aches

and things like that so she had a cat scan of her stomach, and they

just happened to take a portion her lungs in that cat scan, " Greta

Lowry, 's mother said.

They had to take her to the hospital. So what exactly was Allsion

suffering from? It took doctors two weeks to determine she had

histoplasmosis. It's is a fungus that affects the lungs.

It's common to areas with high concentrations of bird and bat

droppings, like the midwest. In fact, some sources say traces of the

fungus can be found in 80 percent of the people who live in these

areas.

However, only a small percent of them become ill.

" It's in the soil. We all get exposed to it. Relatively few of us get

symptomatic disease from it, but here in the midwest when we take a

chest x-ray for whatever reason there's a very high likelyhood that

we'll find a nodule, " Dr. Lawrence Dultz, a pulmonary physician said.

is doing better, but she's still recovering. Her family wants

people to know that while it's a rare disease, it can happen to

anyone.

" Some people try to just brush it off and if your child does contact

this disease. It can be a very serious disease, " Lowry said.

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