Aspergillus
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Aspergillosis Microchapters |
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Diagnosis |
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Treatment |
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Case Studies |
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Aspergillus On the Web |
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American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Aspergillus |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-In-Chief: Cafer Zorkun, M.D., Ph.D. [2]; Ujjwal Rastogi, MBBS [3]
Causes
Common Causes
Aspergillosis is caused by a fungus (Aspergillus), which is commonly found growing on dead leaves, stored grain, compost piles, or in other decaying vegetation. It can also be found on marijuana leaves.
Although most people are often exposed to aspergillus, infections caused by the fungus rarely occur in people who have a normal immune system. The rare infections caused by aspergillus include pneumonia and fungus ball (aspergilloma). There are several forms of aspergillosis:
- Pulmonary aspergillosis - allergic bronchopulmonary type is an allergic reaction to the fungus that usually develops in people who already have lung problems (such as asthma or cystic fibrosis).
- Aspergilloma is a growth (fungus ball) that develops in an area of past lung disease or lung scarring (such as tuberculosis orlung abscess).
- Pulmonary aspergillosis - invasive type is a serious infection with pneumonia that can spread to other parts of the body. This infection almost always occurs in people with a weakened immune system due to cancer, AIDS, leukemia, an organ transplant, chemotherapy, or other conditions or medications that lower the number of normal white blood cells or weaken the immune system.