Blastomycosis: Treatment, Procedure, Cost and Side Effects

Blastomycosis is a type of fungal infection, also known as "North American Blastomycosis", "Blastomycetic Dermatitis" and also "Gilchrist's disease".

Patients who have been diagnosed with Blastomycosis, which is a subclinical disease caused due to presence of serologic, can be observed and do not require antifungal treatment. The Blastomycosis is a mild to moderate type of disease which can be treated in all the patients. All the immune compromised patients and patients who have a progressive pulmonary disease or extra-pulmonary disease require this treatment.

There are therapeutic approaches to Blastomycosis as well, and the treatment has evolved in recent years with the advent of the oral azoles, the primarily itraconazole, which has replaced been replaced by the previous amphotericin B for the mild to oderate pulmonary blastomycosis in the adult patients, and is used for the completion of Blastomycosis therapy after the initial amphotericin treatment in most of the severe cases. Voriconazole play a vital role in the treatment of the CNS blastomycosis, though severely and progressively ill patients are taken care at the ICU, which includes those with sort of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Most of the people with the problem of blastomycosis are generally treated with prescription antifungal medications. Itraconazole being one of the most common antifungal medications, doctors typically use to treat mild to moderate blastomycosis. Amphotericin B is usually recommended in the cases of severe blastomycosis, when the disease spreads to the lungs or infections have spread to other parts of the body. The treatment mainly depends on the severity of the infection and the also the person’s immune status, and the course of treatment can range from a period of six months to one year.

The most commonly used treatment for the blastomycosis is the antifungal drugs, and the most common antifungal drug is itraconazole (Sporanox). Itraconazole can used alone to treat the mild to moderate blastomycosis infections, but for the severe cases, the disease is treated with amphotericin B. There are severely ill patients also who are treated with both amphotericin B and itraconazole, and also other drugs which are related to itraconazole. In general, most of the doctors treat the patient for about six to twelve months, but immune-suppressed patients will require lifelong suppressive therapy with itraconazole, and newer antifungal drugs are also used to treat blastomycosis.

The Blastomycosis can be treated with Amphotericin B and Itraconazole, but also treated with newer antifungal drugs like posaconazole, caspofungin, micafungin. Doctors generally use Itraconazole drug for the mild to moderate pulmonary blastomycosis. It offers the ease of any sort of oral administration like low toxicity and high efficacy. The doses are 600 mg per day for 3 days then 200-400 mg per day is prescribed for the 6-12 months. Gastric acidity is required for the absorption of the itraconazole. Doctors also prescribe Ketoconazole, which is an effective alternative to itraconazole in mild to moderate disease in the open-label trials. Patients who have mild to moderate disseminated blastomycosis without the CNS involvement, doctors prescribe Itraconazole 200-400 mg per day for 6-12 months. The treatment period is generally 12 months in the patients with osteoarticular disease.

For most of the cases of Blastomycosis doctors provide antifungal medication which is commonly used to treat the histoplasmosis, but it depends on the severity of the infection and also the person's immune status and the course of the treatment. The treatment generally can range from 3 months to 1 year.

Any one is eligible for the treatment.

Any one with severe kidney condition may not be eligible for the treatment, and it varies from one patient to another.

The prescribed medicines may have a few side effects to be vary of. They can cause drowsiness, exhaustion, confusion, and the urge to sleep. You may end up experiencing all or some of these side effects, which is why you will be advised not to drive or operate heavy machinery when taking the pills.

There are no specific guidelines for the post treatment, but it is advisable to stay way from allergens, dust and smoke as the lung gets affected due to the fungal infection. The most important post treatment guideline is to stay away from the substance or substances that give you any type of allergic reaction.

Post treatment, follow-up is important for the patients with blastomycosis as the treatment should be regularly given over long terms of time like up to six to 12 months. The Itraconazole blood levels should be examined to be sure, that the given dosages are effective enough, and the patients with blastomycosis need to be monitored for the symptom resolution.

It takes from three months to one year to recover.

The cost of the treatment in India can ranges from somewhere between Rs. 5000 to Rs. 35,000, but may vary.

No, the results are not permanent, but if the patient follows a proper routine of required medications after the treatment, the results can stay for a longer period.