Blastomycosis in the Capital District of New York State: A Newly Identified Emerging Endemic Area. Am J Med 2021 Feb;134(2):e101-e108
Date
10/23/2020Pubmed ID
33091391DOI
10.1016/j.amjmed.2020.09.017Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85096484904 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 5 CitationsAbstract
BACKGROUND: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and New York State Department of Health recently identified the Capital District of New York (CDNY) as an emerging endemic area for blastomycosis. However, no clinical or epidemiological description of blastomycosis in the CDNY has been published.
METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of blastomycosis cases at Albany Medical Center (AMC) and Albany Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) from January 1, 2000, through June 1, 2019. Patients were identified via an institution-approved informatics system at the hospital's microbiology laboratory.
RESULTS: We identified 20 patients diagnosed with blastomycosis over the past 2 decades. There was a nearly 9-fold increase in the annual number of cases in 2016-2019 compared with 2000-2015. The majority of patients resided in the CDNY (90%), and 65% lived within the Mohawk River valley. Most cases (85%) were assumed to be malignancies or non-mycotic infections prior to diagnosis, with median time between presentation and diagnosis of 53 days.
CONCLUSIONS: Our data support recent reports that blastomycosis is an emerging disease in the CDNY. Most patients were misdiagnosed as malignancy or non-mycotic infection, which led to treatment delays.
Author List
Austin A, Tobin E, Judson MA, Hage CA, Hu K, Epelbaum O, Fantauzzi J, Jones DM, Gilroy S, Chopra AAuthor
Kurt Hu MD Assistant Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentAdult
Aged
Blastomyces
Blastomycosis
Communicable Diseases, Emerging
Endemic Diseases
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
New York
Young Adult