Histoplasmosis historical perspective
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: ; Vidit Bhargava, M.B.B.S [2]
Historical Perspective
The fungus was first identified and described by an american pathologist named Samuel Taylor Darling. He had trained in Louis Pasteur's laboratory and was later appointed as the Head of the board of health laboratory in Panama. While working on a project on control malaria and yellow fever in Panama he made this discovery in 1905-1906. He found that, in a lung autopsy specimen in a carpenter, there were granulomas quite different from the ones found in tuberculosis, these were large endothelial cells infested by oval micro-organisms. In 1906, he examined 2 more autopsy specimens from a laborer and a Chinese immigrant and the findings were consistent with the previous biopsy. He thus postulated the existence of a new micro-organism, classified it as a protozoan, and named it Histoplasma capsulatum because he thought it to be an encapsulated organism. However both his assumptions were wrong. Nonetheless Histoplasmosis became "Darling's Disease". [3]
Histoplasmosis in Popular Culture
- Johnny Cash included a reference to the disease, even correctly noting its source in bird droppings, in the song "Beans for Breakfast".
- Bob Dylan was hospitalized due to histoplasmosis in 1997, causing the cancellation of concerts in the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
- In the episode Family, episode 21 of season 3 of the television show 'House, M.D.' a patient was diagnosed with histoplasmosis.