ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Ivanhoe Newswire) – A fungus is spreading across the country that causes a debilitating and deadly lung infection called histoplasmosis.
Once thought to only impact areas around the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys. Now, new research shows that it’s popping up in every single state. The worst part, it could go misdiagnosed for years.
For 25 years John Meyer was a firefighter until something he breathed in while on the job almost destroyed him.
“I was at a fire and I was inside and I was pulling ceilings down,” Meyer said.
Local doctors said it was his gall bladder. Then he was told it was actually lung cancer.
“You always described it as like your body felt like it was crushed,” Mary Meyer, John’s wife, said.
Finally, a team at the Washington University School of Medicine diagnosed John with histoplasmosis. A fungal infection caused by breathing in spores from fungi – often caused by bat guano.
“It’s one of the most understudied diseases in infections” said Dr. Andrej Spec, a specialist in fungal infections at Washington University School of Medicine.
Up to 90% of people are first misdiagnosed.
“I’ve seen patients misdiagnosed with really everything from rheumatoid arthritis to lupus.” Spec said.
John Meyer was treated with antifungal medicine and an oral medication called itraconazole. Six years later, John still says he’s only back to 50% of what he was.
But for Mary Meyer, just having John at home is enough.
“I am so happy and blessed that he’s still here, because at times we didn’t think he would make it,” she said.
Sudden weight loss is a key sign of histoplasma — as well as low blood counts in white and red cells and in the platelets. Also, patients can experience pericarditis, where their heart has trouble beating.