Incidence of histoplasmin hypersensitivity in the Philippines

• Published in: Mycopathologia (1975) Vol. 149; no. 2; pp. 69 - 71
• Main Authors: BULMER, Amelia C, BULMER, Glenn S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer 01.01.2001; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Animals; Bacterial diseases; Biological and medical sciences; Birds; Chickens - microbiology; Disease; Drug resistance; Employees; Ent and stomatologic mycoses; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fungi; Histoplasma - immunology; Histoplasma - isolation & purification; Histoplasmin - immunology; Histoplasmin - pharmacology; Histoplasmosis; Histoplasmosis - diagnosis; Histoplasmosis - epidemiology; Histoplasmosis - immunology; Human bacterial diseases; Human mycoses; Humans; Hypersensitivity - etiology; Hypersensitivity - immunology; Incidence; Infectious diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Miscellaneous; Mycoses; Philippines - epidemiology; Poultry; Rare diseases; Skin Tests; Tropical bacterial diseases; Tuberculosis; Philippines; United States > US; China; Luzon; Histoplasmosis; Mycosis; Disease; Sound production; Histoplasma capsulatum; Male; Mycobacterial infection; Incidence; Fungi; Female; Fungi Imperfecti; Aves; Age; Chiroptera; Thallophyta; Skin test; Hypersensitivity; Long term; Infection; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Tuberculosis; Bacteriosis; Skin; Chicken
• ISSN: 0301-486X; 1573-0832
• DOI: 10.1023/A:1007277602576

Long-term residents of the Philippines were skin tested with histoplasmin skin test material. This study was conducted with 143 electric company (MERALCO) employees from Manila, Philippines. We found that 37 (26%) of the subjects were skin test positive. Characteristics of the positive group were: average age of 37 years; all except one were lifelong inhabitants of Metro Manila; 25 were male and 12 were female; one-half of the subjects reported extended contact with chickens. Despite these findings, histoplasmosis is considered to be a very rare disease in the Philippines. This survey indicates that Histoplasma capsulatum is sufficiently present in the Philippines to come in contact with one-fourth of the test population. This reinforces the hypothesis that histoplasmosis is present in the Philippines and is probably being misdiagnosed as granulomatous-inducing diseases such as tuberculosis, e.g., so-called "drug resistant" tuberculosis. We recommend larger surveys of this type and attempts to culture the etiologic agent from natural sources such as chicken and bat droppings.