An Outbreak of Histoplasmosis among Healthy Young Japanese Women after Traveling to Southeast Asia

作者：Ohno Hideaki; Ogata Yoshiko; Suguro Hajime; Yokota Soichiro; Watanabe Akira; Kamei Katsuhiko; Yamagoe Satoshi; Ishida Okawara Akiko; Kaneko Yukihiro; Horino Atsuko; Yamane Kunikazu; Tsuji Takahiro; Nagata Noriyo; Hasegawa Hideki; Arakawa Yoshichika; Sata Tetsutaro; Miyazaki Yoshitsugu^*

来源：Internal Medicine, 2010, 49(5): 491-495.

DOI：10.2169/internalmedicine.49.2759

• histoplasmosis
• outbreak
• serological test
• PCR

Histoplasmosis, caused by Histoplasma capsulatum, is an endemic mycosis in many countries of the world except for Japan. Outbreaks of histoplasmosis among Japanese people are very rare and are mainly imported by travelers. We report an outbreak of histoplasmosis among healthy Japanese people who traveled to a resort area in Southeast Asia. Three young Japanese women traveled to Langkawi island, Malaysia and stayed on the island for five days without visiting caves, a known reservoir of H. capsulatum. All three individuals developed flu-like symptoms with multiple nodule shadows on chest X rays or chest CT scans at around ten days after their return to Japan. Serum samples obtained from the three subjects were positive for anti-Histoplasma antibody and specific PCR for H. capsulatum on lung biopsy specimens and the serum from one patient was positive. The clinical course of all three patients improved without the use of anti-fungal agents and no recurrence has been confirmed. Clinical attendants should consider histoplasmosis when they see patients with flu- like symptoms with abnormal chest X-rays after visiting H. capsulatum endemic areas, especially Southeast Asia.

• 出版日期2010