Diseases caused by mold fungi. Abstract mushrooms that cause human diseases Diseases caused by human fungi

Some species of fungi can be pathogenic for warm-blooded animals and humans and cause them suffering. Mycoses that affect the internal organs of humans and animals are often infectious. The following mycoses are known: pulmonary pseudotuberculosis, intestinal mycoses, otomycosis (purulent inflammation of the ear), mycoses that cause inflammation of the nasal cavity and eyes. The most common are mycoses of the external integument of humans and animals (dermatomycosis). Among them, diseases such as scab, ringworm (trichophytia), epidermophytosis, microsporia, etc. are known. Sometimes diseases of animals and humans cause mycotoxicosis: plants infected by fungi produce toxins that enter the body of animals or humans in various ways and lead to to poisoning and even death. Mycotoxicosis is caused by ergot of bread and fodder cereals, as well as “drunken” bread made from grain contaminated with fungi of the genus Fusarium. The toxic effect is caused by corn smut.

Mycoses

Mycoses of animals and humans are distributed almost throughout the globe. The manifestation of mycotic diseases in humans and animals is facilitated by a number of factors, such as, for example, contact with sick animals and humans, trauma, poor skin and hair care. Human infection is possible through the respiratory tract and by ingesting food. Some actinomycetes, yeasts and yeast-like fungi cause damage to the gastrointestinal tract, and Aspergillus species cause pseudotuberculosis in animals and humans. Once embedded in the tissue, they can develop there for decades. Dermatophytes remain viable in hairs and skin scales for a very long time (6-7 years). Mushrooms die at high temperatures (at 80°C after 5-7 minutes). Sublimate, salicylic and benzoic acids, formalin are characterized by fungidid properties. Ultraviolet rays and rays of a mercury-quartz lamp kill mushrooms. Dermatomycosis is widespread.

Ringworm, or trichophytosis

This common disease is caused by fungi of the genus Trichophyton. Trichophytosis affects the skin, hair, and less often internal organs. The disease is active in children; in adults it takes a chronic, atypical form. Typically, patches of baldness with flaky skin appear on the scalp. Whitish-grayish hair stumps 2-4 mm high protrude above the surface of the skin. The affected hair is filled with fungal spores. In the purulent form of the disease, pustules are formed that are squeezed out through the hair follicles. During the illness, which lasts 2-3 months, the body is in a depressed state. The infected person has severe headaches, the temperature rises to 38-39°. During recovery, scars form, preventing further hair growth. In addition to hair, smooth skin and nails are affected. The skin becomes covered with blisters, which dry out and form a yellowish crust. This form of the disease is more common in women. Affected fingernails and toenails change color, shape, consistency and become uneven, loose and crumbling.

Microsporia

The disease is caused by fungi of the genus Microsporium and is observed in children under 13-15 years of age. There are species that live only on humans, others live only on animals, and the species Microsporium lanosum affects humans and animals. Microsporia is transmitted to humans by cats and dogs. Microsporia affects hairy and smooth skin, less often nails. This disease resembles trichophytosis, only the hair stumps are longer. In areas of baldness and in nails, the fungus is found in the form of hyphae. In adults, predominantly smooth skin is affected. In this case, bubbles are formed, located in concentric circles on the reddened spot. The bubbles then dry out and crusts appear in their place.

Scab

The disease is caused by mushrooms of the genus Achorion. Hair, nails, smooth skin, and less commonly internal organs are affected. The disease lasts for years and is often fatal. Achorion species are specialized in relation to humans and animals. With this disease, saucer-shaped yellow, rather dense scutes (scutules) appear on the head, smooth skin and nails. The scutulae are difficult to separate from the lesions, exposing the ulcerative surface. The hair becomes sparse, whitish, dry and falls out entirely. The baldness observed with the disease is very persistent. The cervical lymph nodes enlarge, and sometimes contain the causative agent of the disease inside them. Blisters form on smooth skin. Nails are affected in the same way as with trichophytosis. When internal organs, bones and the central nervous system are damaged, the patient experiences exhaustion, fever, intoxication - all this often leads to death.

Thrush

The disease occurs in humans, domestic animals and birds. A person becomes susceptible to disease when immunity decreases. Infants are most often affected. The causative agent of the disease is the fungus oidium albicans (candida). The fungus's habitat is the oral cavity, where it forms white plaques resembling milk curds. Plaques grow to the mucous membrane, and ulcers with small hemorrhages appear under them. Adults who are weakened by diabetes, cancer or tuberculosis are especially susceptible to thrush. In severe cases, the fungus spreads to the esophagus, stomach and respiratory tract, making swallowing and breathing difficult. The spread of this disease can cause inflammation of the lungs, middle ear and even skin.

Pseudotuberculosis

The causative agent of the disease is the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. The disease is common mainly among chickens and turkeys. Warm-blooded animals and humans also get sick. Pseudotuberculosis in humans is very similar in the course of the disease to pulmonary tuberculosis: cough with sputum, bleeding and fever. The disease lasts for years and is difficult to treat. Aspergillus fumigatus also causes inflammation in the ears (otomycosis), accompanied by noise, itching and pain, and sometimes dizziness and cough. Mycelial plugs sometimes form in the ears. As a result of the disease, partial or complete hearing loss is observed.

Mycotoxicoses

Ergot in grain, fodder and wild cereals is toxic to animals and humans. Ergot sclerotia are used as a medicine to treat hypertension, mental and other diseases. Small mature ergot sclerotia (horns) are especially poisonous and lose toxicity after 9-12 months. Ergot poisoning causes prolonged cramps in the legs and arms - “evil writhing.” Patients feel general malaise and weakness. Saliva is released from the mouth, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain appear. The temperature often rises. There are cases of epilepsy and mental neurosis. Sometimes a gangrenous form of the disease (death of the limbs) is observed. Ergot gets into the grain, and when grinding, into the flour. The more cones that get into the flour, the more toxic it is. Ergot contains various alkaloids that are toxic to humans. It is toxic to cattle, horses, sheep, pigs, dogs, cats, and birds. When poisoned, animals experience general depression, weak pulse and breathing, decreased sensitivity, then general muscle paralysis occurs - the animal lies down and slowly dies. In the Leningrad region, currently, as a rule, measures to combat ergot are observed, so toxicosis has not been registered.

Animal stachybotriotoxicosis

The development of a large number of molds on straw causes disease in animals, but straw infected with the fungus Stachybotrys alternans is especially toxic. This fungus, developing saprotrophically on stubble, straw, dried stems of many plants, manure, paper, shavings, wood, decomposes fiber and releases toxic substances into the substrate. When horses eat poisonous feed, they experience irritation of the mucous membranes of the mouth and intestines, and then ulceration of the stomach. The toxin persists in affected straw for 12 years. Cows are almost insensitive to this toxin; cats, on the contrary, show all the symptoms of this disease. The mushroom tolerates low temperatures well; It develops strongly in the presence of moisture, but quickly dies from elevated temperatures. Currently, this disease almost never occurs.

4572 0

Thus, mycoses include a large group of infectious diseases, the causative agents of which are fungal microorganisms, characterized by extreme diversity both in morphology, biological activity of pathogens, and pathogenic properties, habitats, conditions for initiating the pathological process, as well as in the mechanism of action on the human body and animals.

The role of fungal microorganisms in the pathology of humans and animals is very significant. Among other infectious diseases, mycoses occupy (quantitatively) one of the first places (although they are not yet sufficiently identified and are not always clearly recorded). However, in most cases, fungal infections (in particular, the skin and its appendages) are not particularly dangerous infections (they do not always lead to disability).

At the same time, the damage they cause to the health of children and adults is very significant. By the way, information about contagious fungal diseases and their clinical uniqueness have been known for a long time, long before the discovery of pathogenic fungi in the lesions of a sick person.

It can be noted that there are many “healthy” and “harmful” mushrooms. Molds and other fungi are known to cause spoilage of food and raw materials. At the same time, there are also “healthy” mushrooms, cultivated (artificially grown) for making bread, cheese, kefir, fermented drinks, as well as for making medicines (penicillin and other antibiotics).

Fungal diseases are significantly common in all countries of the world (up to 25% of the world's population suffers from mycoses; however, complete information on the prevalence of fungal diseases is not available). At the same time, there was a tendency towards their growth, the emergence of generalized, allergic forms with resistance to therapy (“medical mycological iceberg”). Fungal diseases are observed everywhere, although some are more common in certain regions; as noted, they occur in humans and animals and can at times cause epidemics.

According to many researchers, fungal diseases have become noticeably more frequent in recent years, mainly due to the appearance in certain regions of “new” mycoses (or previously not widespread there) mycoses, which is associated with increased population migration, regional military conflicts, immunodeficiencies, etc.

Along with a significant decrease in the incidence of dermatomycoses such as favus, trichophytosis, etc., mycoses of the feet and palms have become extremely common, often affecting the nails; the most common causative agent of these diseases was Trichophyton Castellani red.

In recent years, significant epidemic outbreaks of microsporia have been recorded; Mycoses of the feet have become especially “troubling” among metallurgical workers (hot shops), sailors, athletes, miners, as well as among people employed in the field of consumer services (bathhouse attendants, shower workers, swimming pool workers); At the same time, mycoses of the feet are increasingly being recorded in children.

The incidence of mycosis in military contingents reaches, according to some data, up to 75%. The duration of treatment with antibiotics (tetracyclines, etc.), as well as excessive “infatuation” with hormonal drugs, can lead to the development of secondary mycoses in some patients.

A special place is occupied by mycoses (including visceral) that develop after radiation exposure. There is a tendency towards an increase in occupational fungal diseases with the development of specific (fungal) allergies among people involved in the production of antibiotics, doctors and nurses, pharmacies and laboratories, treatment rooms and operating rooms.

Fungi pathogenic to humans cause damage to the skin, hair, nails, and mucous membranes; less often - the digestive, respiratory, vascular system, as well as vision, hearing, kidneys and genitourinary organs, bones and joints, blood and hematopoiesis, brain tissue.

Routes of transmission of fungal diseases

There have been cases of infection with mycoses from field and domestic rodents (mice, rats, etc.), for example, in people involved in harvesting grain, threshing, assembling ears, and when transporting sheaves that contained sick mice. Sometimes dogs and cats (engaged in their “professional” duty in eliminating mice) received a fungal disease and passed it on to people.

In the future, sick people became a source of mycosis - for healthy people. This transmission can be carried out through direct, immediate contact between people, as well as indirectly - through things and various items of use (hats, scarves, scarves, combs, brushes, pillows, books, letters, etc.).

If sanitary rules are not observed sufficiently, fungal diseases can be transmitted in hairdressing salons, gyms, fitness centers, and showers. The complexity of the problem lies in the fact that infection is also possible with soil fungi (especially with deep mycoses). Moreover, in contrast to superficial mycoses, the route of infection for deep mycoses is often inhalation. Trauma plays an important role in the development of the disease.

Predisposing factors for mycoses are very diverse - degenerative processes, maceration, skin irritation, and most importantly - altered reactivity of the body, its susceptibility to fungal infection, which is closely related to the state of immunity, metabolism, concomitant diseases, taking medications (including irrational antibiotic and immunosuppressive therapy), vitamin and hormonal imbalance; Dysproteinemia, exhaustion of the body, and malnutrition are important.

Normal healthy skin has the ability to get rid of many microorganisms, including pathogenic fungi. Under various unfavorable conditions, the fungicidal properties of the skin are reduced (as noted, after injuries, hypovitaminosis, general diseases, etc.).

It has been shown that under laboratory storage conditions, dermatophytes in hair remain extremely viable for a long time (for example, microsporum - up to 5 years; F.S. Malyshev, 1962). At the same time, ultraviolet rays included in the solar spectrum (with long exposure), boiling, heating in an autoclave for 5-10 minutes, as well as a number of disinfecting solutions (10% formaldehyde, 5% chloramine, 40% acetic acid, Lysol, etc.). High sensitivity to solutions of salicylic, lactic, benzoic acids, sublimate (1:1000), and resorcinol remains.

Kulaga V.V., Romanenko I.M., Afonin S.L., Kulaga S.M.

Diseases caused by pathogenic fungal organisms are called and in most cases are infectious and contagious.

According to WHO (World Health Organization), a fifth of the population suffers from various fungal diseases. Skin diseases are widespread, and cases of lung damage have become more frequent. Up to 15% of all subacute and chronic sinusitis are caused by fungi. Fungal sinusitis tends to increase in number. Pathogenic fungi develop over decades, sometimes in latent form, and appear during complications, in old age, with diabetes mellitus, and HIV infection. Dermatophytes that attack the outer integument of humans are especially tenacious. Infection occurs through surface coverings, the respiratory tract, through ingestion with food in the absence of hygiene, as well as in hairdressing salons, swimming pools, when using other people's things, combs, and through contact with cats and dogs.

Saprolegnia fungi cause great damage to fisheries.

Of the mycoses that affect the internal organs of humans and animals, mycoses that cause pseudotuberculosis of the lungs, intestinal mycoses (gastromycosis), otomycosis (purulent inflammation of the ear), mycoses that cause inflammation of the nasal cavity and eyes are known. The most common are mycoses of the outer integument of humans and animals (dermatomycosis), and therefore a special branch has emerged in medicine and veterinary medicine - dermatomycology. Most often, the attention of dermatomycologists is attracted by diseases such as scab, ringworm (trichophytosis), epidermophytosis, microsporia and others.

Fish production (fish breeding) is damaged by disease of eggs and fry caused by a fungus of the genus Saprolegnia.

Among diseases of poultry and bees, aspergillosis is quite widely known.

But along with those pathogenic for humans and animals, there are also fungi that initially live on living or dead plants, and then enter the body of animals or humans along with plant food, causing suffering and sometimes leading to death. The diseases in these cases are not infectious in nature, since they represent only poisoning by toxins (poisons) produced by fungi during their life on plants. Such poisonings are called. Among the latter, the most widely known are mycotoxicoses of humans and animals, caused by ergot of bread and fodder cereals (Claviceps purpurea), as well as “drunken bread” made from grain infected with fungi of the genus Fusarium. Less well known is poisoning with “drunken oil”, obtained from oilseed flax plants infected while still in the root by toxic species of fungi from the genus Fusarium. The effect of intoxicating chaff (Lolium temulentum) on animals is also harmful, since its seeds acquire poisonous properties under the influence of the sterile stages of the fungus that invariably lives on this grass. The harmful effects of the causative agent of smut - Ustilago longissima, which attacks the leaves of manna (Clyceria fluitans), and bladder smut of corn - Ustilago maydis are also known; the latter contains a toxin, the aqueous extract of which turned out to be more toxic than ergotine, contained in ergot horns.

An entertaining and useful article about diseases caused by different forms of the same organism.

If we move little, eat, drink, sleep a lot, and indulge in other excesses, we will turn our body into a garbage dump of rotting food, in which pathogenic microbes will rapidly multiply. And they will begin to devour our organs, that is, our body will decompose into inorganic substances. We will become like rotten stumps on which slime molds grow. Literally. After all, it is mushrooms that play the main role in the decomposition of the physical body... Medieval doctors knew about killer mushrooms

Indeed, in Gennady Malakhov’s book “Healing Powers” ​​there is an interesting story about how ancient Armenian healers imagined the development of diseases. Opening up the corpses of the dead and dead, they found a lot of mucus and mold in the gastrointestinal tract. But not for all the dead, but only for those who during their lifetime indulged in laziness, gluttony and other excesses, receiving numerous illnesses as punishment.

The beginning of the mushroom story. Mycoplasma, chlamydia...

It started in 1980. A young man with a strange disease was sent to the Belgorod police department clinic for examination. From time to time, for no apparent reason, his temperature rose to 38 degrees. It would seem that there is nothing wrong. But this mildly ill patient seriously said to the laboratory assistants: “Girls, I feel like I’m going to die soon.” They didn't believe him because the attending physician suspected he only had malaria. They tried to find its causative agent in the patient’s blood for a month. But they never found it.

And the patient, unexpectedly for the doctors, very quickly became heavier. Then they were horrified to discover that he had septic endocarditis, an infection of the heart muscle that had been overlooked at first. It was not possible to save the guy. Kozmina did not throw away the blood of the deceased. Examining it again under a microscope, she unexpectedly discovered tiny organisms with a tiny nucleus. For two months I tried to identify them, asking clinical laboratory assistants and looking at atlases on bacteriology, but to no avail. And finally, I found something similar in the book of the Moldovan author Shroit.

Trichomonas…

Indeed, these microorganisms were distinguished by a wide variety of shapes: round, oval, saber-like, with one core and several, separate and connected in chains. There was a reason for the laboratory doctor to be confused. Then she decided to study from the books of microbiology classics. I read in a book by a scientist that Trichomonas reproduce by spores. How can we understand this, since fungi have spores, and Trichomonas is considered an animal? If the scientist’s opinion is correct, then these flagellates should form a mycelium in humans - mycelium. Indeed, in the analyzes of some patients under a microscope, something similar to mycelium was visible.

The scales fall from my eyes.

Here we need to make a small digression. Laboratory assistants at the ATC clinic work with a permanent contingent of people. Reflecting on the question of where chlamydia and ureaplasma came from in innocent grandmothers, they remembered that many years ago trichomonas were found in these patients in tests. We checked the documents - and it was accurate. By the way, something similar happened to men: they were once treated for trichomonas urethritis, but now their analyzes revealed small creatures resembling trichomonas, but without flagella.

“I thought about this question for a long time,” says Lidia Vasilievna, “and a year ago I completely unexpectedly received an answer. I found it not in the scientific works of the luminaries of microbiology, but in the Children's Encyclopedia edited by Mayrusyan, the first volumes of which recently went on sale. So, in the second volume (“Biology”) there is an article by the editor about slime mold fungi. And it comes with colorful drawings: the appearance of slime molds and their internal structure, which is visible under a microscope. Looking at these pictures, I was amazed to the core: I had been finding precisely these microorganisms in analyzes for many years, but could not identify them. And here everything was explained extremely simply and clearly. I am very grateful to Maysuryan for this discovery. It would seem, what does the slime mold fungus have to do with the smallest microorganisms that Lydia Vasilievna examined through a microscope for a quarter of a century? The most direct. As Maysuryan writes, the slime mold goes through several stages of development: “amoebas” and flagellates grow from the spores. They frolic in the mucous mass of the fungus, merging into larger cells - with several nuclei. And then they form a slime mold fruit tree - a classic mushroom on a stalk, which, when dried, releases spores. And everything repeats itself.

At first Kozmina couldn’t believe her eyes. I dug through a bunch of scientific literature about slime molds - and found in it a lot of confirmation of my guess. In appearance and properties, the “amoebas” that released tentacles were strikingly similar to ureaplasmas, “zoospores” with two flagella were similar to trichomonads, and those that had cast off flagella and lost their membranes were similar to mycoplasmas, and so on. The fruiting bodies of slime molds surprisingly resembled... polyps in the nasopharynx and gastrointestinal tract, skin papillomas, squamous cell carcinoma and other tumors.

It turned out that a slime mold fungus lives in our body - the same one that can be seen on rotten logs and stumps. Previously, scientists could not recognize it due to their narrow specialization: some studied chlamydia, others - mycoplasmas, and others - trichomonas. It never occurred to any of them that these were three stages of development of one mushroom, which the fourth were studying. There are a huge variety of slime mold mushrooms known. The largest of them - fuligo - has up to half a meter in diameter. And the smallest ones can only be seen through a microscope. What kind of slime mold lives with us?

There may be many of them,” explains Kozmina, “but so far I have definitely identified only one. This is the most common slime mold - “wolf udder” (scientifically - licogala). It usually crawls along stumps between the bark and wood; it loves darkness and dampness, so it crawls out only in wet weather. Botanists have even learned to lure this creature out from under the bark. The end of filter paper moistened with water is lowered onto the stump, and the whole thing is covered with a dark cap. And a few hours later they lift the cap and see on the stump a creamy, flat creature with water balls, which has crawled out to drink.

In time immemorial, licogala adapted to life in the human body. And since then he has been happy to move from the stump to this damp, dark and warm “house” on two legs. I found traces of lycogala - its spores and trichomonas in various stages - in the maxillary cavity, mammary gland, cervix, prostate, bladder and other organs.

Licogala very cleverly evades the immune forces of the human body. If the body is weakened, it does not have time to recognize and neutralize the rapidly changing cells that make up lycogal. As a result, she manages to throw out spores, which are carried by blood, germinate in convenient places and form fruiting bodies...

Lidia Vasilyevna does not at all claim that she has found a universal causative agent of all diseases of “unknown origin.” So far, she is only sure that the mucus fungus licogala causes papillomas, cysts, polyps and squamous cell carcinoma. In her opinion, the tumor is formed not by degenerated human cells, but by elements of the mature fruiting body of the slime mold. They have already passed the stages of ureaplasma, amoeboid, trichomonas, plasmodium, chlamydia and are now forming a cancerous tumor.

Doctors cannot explain why tumors sometimes disintegrate. But if we assume that the neoplasm is the fruiting bodies of the slime mold, then, according to Kozmina, everything becomes clear. Indeed, in nature, these bodies inevitably die off every year - a similar rhythm is maintained in the human body. The fruiting bodies die to release their spores and are reborn to form plasmodia in other organs. The well-known tumor metastasis occurs.

Without causes there are no effects

There are a huge number of spores in our body, but, according to Kozmina, they do not cause harm as long as we maintain our health and immunity at a high level. Moreover, it is important to maintain at the proper level not only physical health, but also mental balance.

How to lure out illnesses

There are many folk ways to combat the harmful activities of slime molds inside the human body.

Vladimir Adamovich Ivanov from Minsk in his book “The Wisdom of Herbal Medicine” (St. Petersburg) describes a method of cleansing with lemon juice and olive oil. If you use it correctly, then cholesterol plugs and bilirubin stones come out of the liver without pain. But the biggest success, according to the healer, is if the mucus comes out. In this case, he guarantees the patient that he is not at risk of liver cancer in the near future.

Walker, Bragg and other famous healers advise eating grated carrots and beets in the morning on an empty stomach or drinking fresh juice made from them. This, in their opinion, is the best prevention of many ailments.

A more severe healing method was developed by a healer from Simferopol V.V. Tishchenko. He invites his patients to drink a poisonous infusion of hemlock. [!information is for informational purposes only, not for practical application!] Not to get poisoned, but to get the slime mold out of you. But not through the gastrointestinal tract, but directly through the skin. To do this, you need to make lotions from carrot or beet juice on the affected organ.

I myself observed how effective such methods can be,” says Kozmina. — One of our patients developed a tumor lump in the mammary gland. And in her puncture I found mycoplasmas and amoeboids. This means that the slime mold has already begun to form a fruiting body - the woman was at risk of cancer. But our experienced oncologist surgeon Nikolai Khristoforovich Sirenko, instead of surgery, suggested that the patient take a regular anti-inflammatory medicine orally and apply... a compress of beetroot pulp on her chest. And, “distressed” by the medicine, the slime mold crawled out to the bait directly through the skin: the seal softened and an abscess burst on the chest. To the surprise of other doctors, this seriously ill patient began to recover.

Once a man came to Sirenko, who had been operated on twice by other surgeons, but could not help him; the cancer had extensively metastasized. Sirenko did not consider the patient hopeless; -gave “strange” advice that combined the achievements of modern medicine with folk experience. Every year the “hopeless” one underwent VTEC, and after 10 years he received permanent disability. All the doctors were amazed - except for Sirenko and Kozmina. In their opinion, the patient remained alive because the mycelium in his body seemed to be preserved - no fruiting bodies were formed on it, which could destroy the organs and cause death. Kozmina believes that with proper care, other patients whose cancer has already given extensive metastases could live a long time. The main thing is not to allow the slime mold to bear fruit.

It has a powerful healing and cleansing effect on the human body, allowing you to recover and gain protection from unfavorable environmental conditions, eliminate the consequences of improper or poor-quality nutrition, stress and much more.

Vasily Mikhailovich Lysyak, director of the Krasevo holiday home in the Borisov district of the Belgorod region, treats rheumatoid arthritis very well. He offers a course of... 17 barrels with decoctions of medicinal herbs. Patients soak for a long time, sitting up to their necks in warm water, and at the end of the course they are surprised to see that the tumors on the joints, which they could not get rid of for many years, have resolved.

According to Kozmina, slime molds were crawling out of these people: the mushrooms found it much more pleasant in a warm herbal decoction than in sick organisms, where they are poisoned every day with antibiotics and other nasty things.

If you are bothered by diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, then you will have to take a barrel of water... orally. Of course, not simple, but mineral. And of course, not in one sitting. Lidia Vasilyevna explains the success of hydrotherapy by the fact that it is a natural method of removing slime mold from our body. It is not for nothing that at the end of the course a large amount of mucus comes out of the patient. After this exacerbation, relief immediately occurs, and after a month or two the patient’s condition significantly improves. After all, he got rid of the main causative agent of the “diseases of civilizations.” But don’t let those who have nowhere to get enough Narzan, let alone seventeen barrels of herbal infusions, be upset. There are equally effective folk remedies.

For example, a herbalist from the Belgorod region, Anatoly Petrovich Semenko, expels slime mold from the maxillary sinus in one session. He gives the patient a poisonous decoction of bittersweet nightshade to drink. He suggests putting juice squeezed from a cyclamen bulb into your nose, and then rinsing it with the infusion of the letter. The poison makes the slime mold feel sick, it seeks salvation - and finds it in a sweet infusion. As a result, polyps and even cysts emerge with roots. At this time, the person begins to sneeze so much that the fruiting bodies fly out of the nose like corks. And no surgery is needed.

Human diseases caused by fungi are called mycoses. They are superficial, subcutaneous and systemic (deep). There are also opportunistic mycoses that develop in weakened and immunodeficient individuals. In addition to mycoses, mushrooms can also cause mycotoxicosis in humans, that is, diseases that occur when consuming products contaminated with fungal toxins (mycotoxins). Superficial mycoses The causative agents of superficial mycoses are molds that can decompose the keratin of the epidermis, hair and nails. Based on the localization of the processes, keratomycosis (saprophytosis) and dermatomycosis are distinguished.

1. Keratomycosis. Keratomycosis is characterized by lesions of the stratum corneum of the epidermis and the surface of the hair shaft. Keratomycoses include lichen versicolor and tropical mycoses. 1.1. Lichen versicolor is a disease observed mainly in young people with excessive sweating, as well as diabetes. The causative agent is a yeast-like fungus Pityrosporum orbiculare. The skin most often affected is the armpits, back and chest. The disease manifests itself in the form of hyperpigmented or hypopigmented spots. When scraped off, the patches produce bran-like scales, which is why the condition is also known as pityriasis versicolor. Microbiological diagnosis includes microscopy of skin particles from lesions treated with alkali (KOH). The preparations reveal short curved hyphae and thick-walled yeast-like cells. When irradiating lesions with a Wood's lamp, a yellow glow is observed. After sowing the stratum corneum scales on Sabouraud's medium, whitish-cream shiny colonies appear in 4-8 days. For the treatment of versicolor versicolor, topical application of selenium sulfide and 1% terbinafine (Lamisil) cream is most effective.

1.2. Tropical mycoses.

1.2.1. Tinea nigricans. The causative agent of lichen nigricans is the mold fungi Exophiala werneckii. The disease manifests itself as dark, painless spots on the palms and soles of the feet. There is no peeling. Affection is more common in children and young people in tropical regions.

1.2.2. Trichosporosis (white piedra). The causative agent of trichosporosis is the yeast-like fungus Trichosporon beigelii. Fungi infect the surface of the hair shafts, forming soft whitish-yellow nodules. The disease is more often recorded in countries with warm or tropical climates. When microscopying material from lesions, attention is paid to the presence of pseudohyphae, sometimes septate hyphae, numerous arthroconidia and a small number of blastoconidia. Amphotericin B is used for treatment, sometimes in combination with 5-fluorocytosine.

1.2.3. Black piedra. The causative agent is the mold Piedraia hortae. The disease is manifested by the formation of dense black nodules located on the hair of the head, beard and mustache. The disease is recorded in the humid tropical regions of South America and Indonesia. The pathogen is capable of both superficial and internal growth (along the hair shaft), which leads to increased hair fragility. For treatment, the hair on the affected areas is removed and the skin is treated with a surface fungicide (mercuric dichloride).

2. Dermatomycosis. In dermatomycosis, the epidermis, the skin itself, and the hair shaft are affected. Dermatomycosis is recorded everywhere, but more often in countries with a hot, humid climate. Infecting agents (fragments of hyphae and conidia) are transmitted by contact. Most often, infection occurs in baths, swimming pools and showers. Clinical manifestations. Skin lesions (dermatomycosis itself) are characterized by the formation of erythema, small papules, cracks and areas of peeling. Lesions of the scalp (trichomycosis) often manifest as brittle hair caused by the growth of the pathogen in the hair shaft. Nail lesions (onychomycosis) are characterized by their thickening and separation. Typically, nosological forms of dermatomycosis are distinguished according to their localization. At the same time, depending on the type of pathogen, trichophytosis, epidermophytosis and microsporia are distinguished. The Microsporum genus is a more common cause of tinea capitis, but can also affect other parts of the body. The hair falling out from the affected areas is surrounded by spores on the surface, and the skin scales contain many threads of mycelium. Infected hair fluoresces. Trichophyton causes ringworm of the scalp, beard, other areas of the skin and nails. Fungi are located as chains of spores within or on the surface of affected hair or as hyphae and characteristic spores in skin scales. Trichophyton schoenleini is the cause of almost all cases of favus (“scab”). Spores and mycelium threads are found in the crusts of the favus. The hair in the affected areas is filled with bubbles and channels in which the mycelium is hidden. Epidermophyton mainly causes ringworm of the skin of the body, hands and soles. With this disease, the threads of the fungus are located in the skin, the hair is not involved in the pathological process.

2.1. Dermatomycosis of the scalp (ring ringworm of the scalp) The main pathogens are mold fungi of the genera Trichophyton and Microsporum. The lesion is manifested by areas of baldness, peeling, sometimes erythema and pyoderma. The disease is more often registered in children. Can spread directly from person to person or through contaminated clothing. It is found in animals (dogs, cats), from which it can be transmitted to humans. The disease is accompanied by hair loss followed by filling of the hair follicles with dark conidia.

2.2. Juvenile lichen annulare is associated with patchy hair loss. This occurs spontaneously during puberty as the secretion of fatty acids by the glands of the scalp increases during this period. This form of lichen is transient and does not pose a threat. Lichen annulare appears as round, scaly lesions on the affected part.

2.3. Dermatomycosis of the beard and mustache (ring ringworm of the beard) is known as beard scabies (favus, scab) - an infectious lesion of the hair follicles (possibly granulomatous lesions); pathogen – Trichophyton schoenleinii; the main manifestations are papules and pustules on the skin of the face. 2.4. Dermatomycosis of the body - epidermophytosis, localized in various areas of the skin of the body; pathogens – Trichophyton mentagrophytes, T. rubrum and M. canis; characterized by peeling, pustular rashes, and sometimes erythema.

2.5. Inguinal dermatomycosis (ring ringworm of the groin area) is also called Arabian scabies. This is epidermophytosis, localized in the area of ​​the external genitalia, inner thighs, perineum and groin areas; pathogens – Trichophyton mentagrophytes, T. rubrum, Epidermophyton floccosum and certain species of fungi of the genus Candida.

2.6. Athlete's foot (ring ringworm of the foot, or athlete's foot) - lesions of the sole area, mainly the skin of the interdigital spaces; characterized by small bubbles, cracks, areas of peeling and erosion. Similar lesions are observed on the upper extremities (athlete's foot); pathogens – Trichophyton mentagrophytes, T. rubrum, Epidermophyton floccosum.

2.7. Athlete's foot (onychomycosis) - fungal infection of the nails of the fingers and toes; pathogens are certain species of the genera Epidermophyton and Trichophyton. Microbiological diagnostics. Diagnosis of superficial mycoses is based on microscopy of affected tissues and identification of fungal cultures isolated from them. The causative agents of microsporia are quite easily identified by irradiating the hair with a Wood's UV lamp (the affected areas glow green). To isolate a pure culture, hair, fragments of skin and nails are used as research material. Samples are examined microscopically in unstained preparations treated with KOH. Isolation of cultures of the pathogen is carried out by placing individual hairs or pieces of skin on Sabouraud agar, Sabouraud agar with antibiotics, or potato dextrose agar. Trichophyton species grow in 2-3 weeks, the colonies are multi-colored, the conidia are large, smooth and septate (up to 10 septa), shaped like pencils (10-50 µm). Intraspecific identification is difficult and requires the study of biochemical properties. Microsporum species also grow slowly, the macroconidia are thick-walled, multicellular, spindle-shaped, 30-160 µm long and covered with spines. Epidermophyton floccosum produces white, yellow or olive colored colonies. Fungi are identified by the presence of many smooth, club-like conidia (7-20 µm long). Treatment. In the treatment of dermatomycosis, topical application of drugs containing sulfur, selenium, and tar is used. For onychomycosis, removal of the nail plate and cleansing of the nail bed are combined with the administration of griseofulvin and terbinafine.