Dr. Germs, Defender of Health - Learn all about which fungi classify as germs, how they are transmittedd, and which diseases and symptoms they can cause

Fungi are plant-like organisms that, unlike other plants, don't use light to make food. Instead, they live in damp, dark plces and absorb food from other dead — or sometimes living — things.

There are more than 100,000 types of fungi, and many are very beneficial. Some eat trash, breaking it down to soil; others eat sugar, creating a gas that leavens bread or ferments beer; yet others are themselves edible by humans.

But some fungi, when their spores are inhaled, when they get on our skin, or when their growth is not controlled can cause disease that ranges from mild irritation to severe infection.

Fungi	Transmission	Disease and Symptoms
Blastomyces dermatitidis	Airborne: Soil fungus spores can multiply if inhaled and then migrate from the lungs through the blood and lymphatics to other ares of the body like the skin, bone, genitourinary tract, and brain. Not transmitted from person to person.	Blastomycosis Infection can be asymptomatic to very symptomatic with any of the following: fever, chills, muscle pain, headache, coughing, chest pain, hoarseness, shortness of breath, sweating, weight loss, skin and bone lesions, and prostatitis.
Candida albicans	Yeast organisms live in all human bodies, and their growth is normally balanced by other naturally occurring microorganisms ("flora"), such as lactobacilli. At times, however, they can grow out of control to cause symptomatic infection.	Candidiasis (aka yeast infection or thrush) is an overgrowth of yeast that affects moist areas of the body, primarily the mouth or groin area, and symptoms include severe itching, burning, soreness, irritation, and a whitish discharge that may have a "yeasty" smell.
Coccidioides immitis or posadasii	Airborne: Inhalation of soil fungus spores. Not transmitted from person to person.	Coccidioidomycosis (aka Valley fever and California valley fever; endemic in parts of the southwesten United States) Symptoms include fever, cough, headache, rash, and muscle pain, chronic pulmonary infection, or disseminated infection that affects the meninges, soft tissues, joins and bones.
Cryptococcus neoformans	Airborne: Inhalation of soil contaminated with the yeast.	Cryptococcosis Symptoms include chest pain, dry cough, abdominal swelling, headache, blurred vision, and confusion.
Histoplasma capsulatum	Airborne: Breathing spores of the fungus, which are released when soil or other material it grows in (usually contaminated with bat or bird droppings) is disturbed. When plants fertilized with bat droppings are burned, the smoke may become infectious with airborne spores. Prevalent in the United States along the Ohio River valley and the lower Mississippi River.	Histoplasmosis (aka Darling's disease) primarily affects the lungs and causes fever, chest pains, and a dry cough. Occasionally, other organs are affected, which can be fatal if untreated.
Tinea	Animal-to-person: This fungus lives on the hair and skin of animals and people. Dogs and cats can transmit it to people.	Ringworm A ring-shaped, raised red rash that resembles a worm, but it's not a real worm.
Trichophyton rubrum	Person-to-person: Coming in contact with the fungus, which is left on floors and on clothing, such as socks and shoes, by infected people and which thrives in warm, moist environments.	Tinea pedis (athlete's foot) Affects the skin on feet and causes itching, burning, cracking, peeling, and bleeding.
This sample list of fungi and the diseases they cause is far from all-inclusive. For complete information about any disease, we encourage you to visit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/). This content is intended for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or to replace the advice or diagnosis of your physician or health care provider.