In what physicians believe is the first occurrence of human infection by the bacterium, a man in Kolkata contracted a sickness caused by a plant fungus. According to the doctors, this illustrates the spread of plant pathogens into humans when working in close proximity to plant fungi.
According to doctors in the journal Medical Mycology Case Reports, a 61-year-old man visited the outpatient department of Consultant Apollo Multispeciality Hospitals in Kolkata for three months with complaints of hoarseness of voice, cough, recurrent pharyngitis, fatigue, difficulty swallowing, and anorexia.
He had no history of diabetes, HIV infection, kidney illness, any other chronic disease, immunosuppressive drug use, or trauma. Doctors reported the patient, a plant mycologist by trade, had been working with rotting material, mushrooms, and various plant fungus for a long period as part of his study activities. His chest X-ray was normal, but a CT scan of his neck revealed the presence of a right paratracheal abscess.
Doctors drained the pus and submitted the pus sample to be tested further. The sample was transferred to the “WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference & Research on Fungi of Medical importance” after repeated testing, where it was recognized as Chondrostereum purpureum.
When the pus was entirely drained, the patient was put on oral medications for two months. Following two years of follow-up, doctors claimed he was “absolutely fine and there is no evidence of recurrence.”
Chondrostereum purpureum: A Plant Fungus Causing Silver Leaf Disease
Chondrostereum purpureum is a plant fungus that causes silver leaf disease in plants, most notably those in the rose family. The disease gets its name from the silvering of leaves on infected branches. According to the paper, silver leaf sickness is gradual and often fatal. Fungi also tend to affect exclusively immunocompromised people.
Individuals with weakened immune systems are more vulnerable to fungal infections, however, healthy people are as regularly reported to have a fungal infection.
“That animal and human diseases can be caused by plant pathogens is a new concept that raises serious questions regarding the propensity of such infection to occur in healthy as well as immunocompromised individuals,” the doctors said.
