Sporotrichosis in the Baixada Fluminense Region, Province of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Guilherme Barros Saiter

doi:10.11648/j.sjph.20170501.17

Abstract

Sporotrichosis is a polymorphic disease caused by the fungus Sporothrix schenckii, which manifests mainly in the lymphocutaneous form, skin-fixed form, skin-disseminated form and sometimes with extra-skin form, affecting bones, joints, lungs and central nervous system. Objective: Investigate the occurrence of the disease in the population of Baixada Fluminense region. Material and methods: the lesion’s material suggestive of sporotrichosis of 13 patients was collected and sent to a clinical pathology laboratory where it was grown in Petri dishes containing Sabouraud dextrose agar medium. The dishes were sealed and stored at room temperature. The obtained fungal growth was identified by analysis of the morphological characters. Result: The results confirmed the identity of S. schenckii of the 13 samples. Conclusions: lymphocutaneous form was the most frequent with lesions on the face and upper limbs. The contact with infected cats was considered the main mechanism of transmission of the etiologic agent among the studied patients. Treatment with itraconazole and potassium iodide was effective and well tolerated.

Highlights

Sporotrichosis is a chronic disease caused mostly by traumatic implantation of Sporothrix schenckii fungus in the body
All patients presented ulcerated or ulcerogomous lesions suspected of sporotrichosis on the face or upper limbs
The lesion’s culture results showed 100% of positivity for the samples tested, confirming that the clinical characteristics corresponded to sporotrichosis in all cases

Summary

Introduction

Sporotrichosis is a chronic disease caused mostly by traumatic implantation of Sporothrix schenckii fungus in the body. In some cases the fungus can spread to another organs or be primarily systemic when infection occurs by inhaling spores [1]. Important information regarding the transmission of this etiologic agent is related to certain recreative activities and occupational as horticulture, floriculture, gardening, fishing, agriculture, hunting and logging. Mining is one of the activities over the years that have been associated with the transmission or the sporotrichosis etiological agent. The disease is considered zoonotic, since the transmission of the fungus can occur by the bite or scratch of sick cats or asymptomatic carrier cats [5, 8, 10]. Sporotrichosis has often a long-course with systemic involvement, progressing to severe disease, with difficult of treatment and progression to death in almost all cases. The most common clinical manifestations are fixed, lymphocutaneous and skin-

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