Latest news with #fungalinfection
Irish Times
a day ago
- Health
- Irish Times
Up to 1,000 trout killed in Cork's Blackwater as inspectors investigate possible fungal outbreak
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has launched an investigation into a possible fungal infection outbreak that may have killed up to 1,000 brown trout in the River Blackwater in north Cork . According to IFI, its inspectors are currently assessing the impacted area, which spans an 8km stretch of the river between Roskeen Bridge near Lombardstown all the way downstream to Mallow town. 'IFI is investigating how a potential disease outbreak may have occurred. Investigations, at this stage, have not yielded evidence of pollution,' said IFI, adding that it is continuing to monitor and assess the river to try to identify the cause. 'Water levels are very low in the River Blackwater at Mallow, and water temperatures have been recorded between 17 and 19 degrees. Freshwater fish are vulnerable to low water levels and high temperatures.' READ MORE IFI said it was liaising with Uisce Éireann , the Environmental Protection Agency and Cork County Council, all of whom have had staff on the river throughout the day. Marine Institute staff are supporting IFI and are undertaking sampling to identify the possible infection. 'IFI urges anglers to refrain from fishing in the affected stretch of river. They are also being asked to wash, clean and dry all equipment, and to avoid crossing catchments with tackle to minimise the risk of spreading any possible infection.' It added that inspections of the Allow and minor Awbeg rivers, two tributaries of the Blackwater, have not detected incidences of infected or dead trout. The IFI has appealed to people to report any fish kills or suspected water pollution to its 24-hour confidential phoneline, 0818 34 74 24.
CTV News
7 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
Crew on lookout for Dutch elm disease this week in Spruce Grove
Yellow STOPDED (Society to Prevent Dutch Elm Disease) tape is wrapped around a tree in this undated file photo. Spruce Grove is on the lookout for Dutch elm disease this week. According to a news release, the city of about 40,000 is employing workers to look for signs of the disease as part of an Edmonton-area survey by the Society To Prevent Dutch Elm Disease. Workers with Living Tree Environmental are visually inspecting elms on behalf of the society. Spruce Grove is 15 kilometres west of the Edmonton city limit. The fungal infection has spread across North America over the last century, killing the trees, with Alberta and British Columbia the last areas considered free of it until 2024. The infection, which isn't curable, clogs an elm's water-conducting system and kills it in one to two years. It is spread by elm bark beetles, which feed on healthy trees and breed in dead and dying ones over the winter. Last month, the City of Edmonton removed several elms in the Alberta Avenue area after it confirmed a case of Dutch elm disease there on July 16 after planned tree assessments in the neighbourhood. The Edmonton case was the first this year and sixth since the disease was discovered in five trees a year ago in Killarney and the east Yellowhead Trail corridor between 97 Street and 66 Street. Elms within 20 metres of an infected tree in Edmonton are removed, while all elms within a one-kilometre radius are closely monitored, the city said last month. In Spruce Grove, the city inspects public elm trees and prunes them between Oct. 1 and March 31, when the elm bark beetle isn't active, to help prevent the disease's spread.
The Sun
22-07-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Dad, 50, dies after being told his symptoms were ‘just a migraine' 11 times before slipping into an 8-month coma
A DAD died of a fungal brain infection after doctors misdiagnosed him 11 times. Qinghu Guo, 50, was seen by medics at multiple NHS and private clinics over five weeks and his condition was regularly dismissed as a migraine. 5 5 He only received the correct diagnosis after collapsing at home in front of couple's toddler. Qinghu, who had no known immune conditions, was eventually diagnosed with cryptococcal meningitis, a rare fungal infection that had already caused dangerously high brain pressure. He died in August 2024, leaving his wife, Yujiao Chang, 35, to provide for their son. She has now launched a fundraiser on GoFundMe, which has already topped £9,600. Yujiao, originally from Zhengzhou, China but now living in East London, said: 'I kept telling them it wasn't a migraine. 'He collapsed five times. I had to drag him off the floor. Even when a private neurologist suspected meningitis, the hospital wouldn't listen.' A coroner later confirmed the condition was extremely rare and said a combination of its rarity and 'medical confirmation bias' contributed to delays. He ruled that Qinghu's lumbar puncture - the test that confirmed the diagnosis - was only performed on his 12th medical visit. By then, he had already suffered brain swelling and required emergency surgery at the Royal London Hospital. He never fully recovered and died from complications in August 2024, after more than ten operations and eight months in a coma. 'MOST TRAUMATIC DAY OF MY LIFE' My son, 18, wrote his illness off as a hangover - hours later he was dead Qinghu first fell ill in October 2023. Both a private GP and an NHS GP initially prescribed antibiotics for what they believed was the flu. His symptoms worsened, and he was referred to A&E at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, where he was diagnosed with migraines. Yujiao said: 'At the beginning, we trusted the doctors. 'My son was born in that hospital (Chelsea and Westminster Hospital). "But no matter how much we said the treatment wasn't working, they kept insisting it was just a different type of migraine.' Repeated scans failed to detect any brain abnormalities. 5 5 When Qinghu collapsed at home multiple times, Yujiao called 999 but each time she said paramedics saw his NHS file and followed the migraine diagnosis, sending him home. In desperation, they consulted a private neurologist who suspected meningitis and urged a lumbar puncture. Yujiao brought this diagnosis back to NHS doctors, but she says they refused to believe the private opinion. She said: 'Even after we had another expert tell them it could be meningitis, they said it was still just a migraine. "That made everything harder. When the ambulance came, they saw a note in the system about the private opinion and still didn't act.' On the fifth collapse, the paramedic refused to take Qinghu back to hospital, saying he had already been discharged multiple times. Instead, they arranged a video consultation. A hospital doctor saw his face via video call and immediately ordered an ambulance. That night, a CT scan revealed dangerously high brain pressure. A lumbar puncture was finally performed and confirmed cryptococcal meningitis - a diagnosis that came more than a month after symptoms began. Qinghu was rushed into intensive care and underwent multiple brain surgeries. 'Look after our son' In December 2023, during junior doctor strikes, he deteriorated again and began vomiting and passing blood. Yujiao says no doctor came to see him and later that night, his heart stopped. She said: 'He hugged me and said: 'Look after our son.' Fifteen minutes after I got home, my boy woke up screaming, 'No Daddy'. 'Then the hospital called to say his heart had stopped.' Qinghu was resuscitated three times but never regained full consciousness. He briefly woke for three weeks, able to squeeze Yujiao's hand and kiss her, before slipping back into a coma and passing away in August 2024. 5 At the same time, Yujiao's toddler son was diagnosed with a tumour and had to undergo two major operations. She said: 'I held him as he went under anaesthetic, then got a call from the hospital saying my husband was dying. I had to run between operating rooms.' Yujiao says her son is healthy now, but doctors have warned he remains at high risk of developing another tumour. 'At his last follow-up in December 2024, they found calcium deposits still in his body,' she explained. 'They told me he's not in the clear - he'll need scans every six months until he turns 18. I have to watch him carefully. It's something we'll be living with for years.' 'I've lost my husband, my home, and nearly lost my child' Yujiao's stress was compounded by financial hardship, as she was forced to abandon a children's project she had secured £1m in investment for due to her husband's illness. As a result, she says she had to personally absorb all the costs of cancelling the project, which, with no income at the time and added to other expenses, led to her bankruptcy. Yujiao poured her savings into legal fees, medical treatment, and basic living costs. 'I went from running a small business to sleeping beside my son in the hospital,' she said. 'I've lost my husband, my home, and nearly lost my child.' With no family support and no access to benefits due to her visa, she was left to face it all alone. 'I don't want charity. I just need time to get back on my feet,' she added. Yujiao is now rebuilding her life through livestreaming and photography. One of her grief videos has already reached nearly a million views on Chinese social platform Red Book. The family has secured a solicitor and is pursuing a legal claim. What is cryptococcal meningitis? Cryptococcal meningitis is a rare but serious brain infection caused by a fungus called Cryptococcus. The Cryptococcus fungus is commonly found in soil, rotting wood and bird droppings, particularly pigeon poo. People become infected by breathing in the fungal spores. In most healthy individuals, it causes no symptoms, but in those with low immunity, the infection can spread to the brain and cause meningitis. It mainly affects people with weakened immune systems, such as those with: Advanced HIV or AIDS Certain cancers People on long-term immunosuppressive treatment (e.g. post-transplant) What are the symptoms of cryptococcus meningitis? This type of meningitis comes on slowly - over days or weeks. Watch for: Persistent headache Fever Stiff neck Confusion or drowsiness Blurred or double vision Nausea or vomiting Sensitivity to light In some cases, seizures Treatment options Treatment involves strong hospital-only antifungal drugs. Without treatment, cryptococcal meningitis is often fatal. Even with treatment, recovery may take months, and some people are left with long-term effects like memory or vision problems. Sources: NHS, British Infection Association, CDC A coroner ruled in January 2025 that Qinghu died from cryptococcal meningitis and noted that he presented 12 times across NHS and private care before a diagnosis was made. The delays were attributed to confirmation bias and the rarity of the condition. The coroner did not identify failings by individual doctors. However, Yujiao said the first doctor to misdiagnose her late husband, at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, had 'refused' to listen to her concerns. 'He stated that he would force my GP to follow up migraine headache, and wrote in capital letters on the discharge letter that it was medication overuse headache,' she said. 'This misled and delayed a series of critical ambulance interventions. 'Even after my husband had already died from cryptococcal meningitis - an established fact - this doctor still insisted in front of the coroner that he had made no diagnostic error. 'His arrogance and refusal to admit fault destroyed our family.'
CBC
11-07-2025
- Health
- CBC
Inquest to examine 5 deaths during blastomycosis outbreak in First Nation in northern Ontario
Social Sharing A coroner's inquest was announced Friday into five deaths during an outbreak of blastomycosis in Constance Lake First Nation, just west of Hearst in northeastern Ontario. The deaths occurred between Nov. 19, 2021, and Jan. 23, 2022. Constance Lake First Nation was in a state of emergency for over a year after people first started to get sick with blastomycosis, a fungal infection that impacts the lungs. Dozens of people were also treated. The inquest will examine the circumstances surrounding the deaths of: Luke Moore, 43. Lorraine Shaganash, 47. Lizzie Sutherland, 56. Mark Ferris, 67. Douglas Taylor, 60. According to Public Health Ontario, blastomycosis is caused by a fungus known as Blastomyces dermatitidis, which commonly grows in moist soil and decomposing wood and leaves. "If this environment is disturbed (e.g., through activities such as camping, digging/gardening, dirt/mountain biking), tiny fungal spores may be released into the air which can lead to infection if inhaled," its website says. Dr. Harry Voogjarv, regional supervising coroner based in Sudbury, announced the inquest. A date for the proceedings has not yet been released. An inquest's five-person jury is tasked with identifying who died, when and where they died, their medical cause of death, and by what means they died — classified as either natural causes, accident, homicide, suicide or undetermined. Public Health Ontario reported 126 cases of blastomycosis across the province in 2023, resulting in 11 deaths. There were also 13 deaths in 2021 and four in 2022.
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Fungal infections are getting harder to treat
Fungal infections are getting harder to treat as they grow more resistant to available drugs, according to research published Wednesday in The Lancet Microbe. The study focused on infections caused by Aspergillus fumigatus, a fungus that is ubiquitous in soil and decaying matter around the world. Aspergillus spores are inhaled all the time, usually without causing any problems. But in people who are immunocompromised or who have underlying lung conditions, Aspergillus can be dangerous. The fungus is one of the World Health Organization's top concerns on its list of priority fungi, which notes that death rates for people with drug-resistant Aspergillus infections range from 47%-88%. The new study found that the fungus' drug resistance is increasing. On top of that, patients are typically infected with multiple strains of the fungus, sometimes with different resistance genes. 'This presents treatment issues,' said the study's co-author, Jochem Buil, a microbiologist at Radboud University Medical Centre in the Netherlands. Buil and his team analyzed more than 12,600 samples of Aspergillus fumigatus taken from the lungs of patients in Dutch hospitals over the last 30 years. Of them, about 2,000 harbored mutations associated with resistance to azoles, the class of antifungals used to treat the infections. Most of them had one of two well-known mutations, but 17% had variations of the mutations. Nearly 60 people had invasive infections — meaning the fungi spread from the lungs to other parts of the body — 13 of which were azole-resistant. In those people, nearly 86% were infected with multiple strains of the fungi, making treatment even more complicated. 'It is an increasingly complicated story and physicians may have trouble identifying whether or not they are dealing with a drug-resistant fungal infection,' said Dr. Arturo Casadevall, chair of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who wasn't involved with the research. Before treating an Aspergillus fungal infection, doctors look for resistance genes that can give them clues about which drugs will work best. If someone is infected with multiple strains of the same type of fungus, this becomes much less clear-cut. Oftentimes, different strains will respond to different drugs. 'Azoles are the first line of treatment for azole-susceptible strains, but they do not work when a strain is resistant. For those, we need to use different drugs that don't work as well and have worse side effects,' Buil said, adding that some people will require treatment with multiple antifungal drugs at the same time. The findings illustrate a larger trend of growing pressure on the few drugs available to treat fungal infections — there are only three major classes of antifungal drugs, including azoles, that treat invasive infections, compared with several dozen classes of antibiotics. Resistance to such drugs is growing, and new ones are uniquely difficult to develop. Humans and fungi share about half of their DNA, meaning we're much more closely related to fungi than we are to bacteria and viruses. Many of the proteins that are essential for fungi to survive are also essential for human cells, leaving fewer safe targets for antifungal drugs to attack. 'The big problem for all of these fungal species is that we don't have a lot of antifungals,' said Jarrod Fortwendel, a professor of clinical pharmacy at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, who was not involved with the research. 'Typically the genetic mutations that cause resistance don't cause resistance to one of the drugs, it's all of them, so you lose the entire class of drugs.' Further complicating matters, the vast majority of azole resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus stems from agriculture, which widely uses fungicides. The fungicides typically have the same molecular targets as antifungal drugs. Farmers spray them on crops, including wheat and barley in the U.S., to prevent or treat fungal disease. (The first instance of azole resistance was documented in the Netherlands, where antifungals are widely used on tulips.) Aspergillus fungi aren't the target, but exposure to the fungicides gives them a head start developing genes that are resistant to the targets, sometimes before an antifungal drug with the same target even hits the market. This was the source of the vast majority of the drug resistance analyzed in the study. Fortwendel noted that fungal resistance is increasingly found around the world. 'Basically everywhere we look for drug-resistant isotopes, we find them,' he said. 'We are seeing this azole drug-resistance happening throughout the U.S. Those rates will likely climb.' Any individual person's risk of having an azole-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus is low, Casadevall said. Infections typically affect people who are immunocompromised and amount to around a few thousand cases per year in the U.S., Casadevall said. While relatively uncommon, the bigger risk is the broader trend of drug-resistant fungal infections. 'The organisms that cause disease are getting more resistant to drugs,' he said. 'Even though it's not like Covid, we don't wake up to a fungal pandemic, this is a problem that is worse today than it was five, 10 or 20 years ago.' This article was originally published on
