Draw the point
★ Infection with Aspergillus in the lungs is just one case, not an epidemic, and there is no need to worry.
★ Aspergillus is a saprophytic fungus that actually inhales its spores every day, while the immune system protects us from infection.
★ When cleaning up a large number of moldy items, pay attention to wearing a mask to protect it.
Recently, there is news that a woman returned to her hometown to help collect corn, and then sought medical treatment due to continuous coughing, and after examination, she found that her lungs had aspergillus aflatoxin infection. What's going on here? Will we also be infected with such a disease?
Let's start with the conclusion:
It is true that there are many kinds of aspergillus in nature that can infect people's lungs, but this is often seen in occupational groups that are often exposed to aspergillus, such as distillery workers, gardeners, farmers, etc. Some people who are immunocompromised are also at risk of aspergillus infection.
At present, the reported cases of aspergillosis infection of the lungs are all sporadic cases, that is to say, there is no close connection between patients in time and space, and there is no case of infection or even epidemic due to contact with patients, so we do not have to feel anxious or even panic about it.
So, under what circumstances, people will be infected with aspergillus lungs, how should we do a good job of protection? Let's start with the culprit of this time, Aspergillus aflex.
01
What is Aspergillus?
Aspergillus aflex is a fungus, a member of the Aspergillus family, aspergillus in the Chinese name is very grounded, may come from its use - often used as "koji" to ferment, such as "koji", in fact, in addition to wine, soybean sauce, soy sauce fermentation process will also use Aspergillus.
The origin of the scientific name of Aspergillus is interesting, because the first to discuss and name Aspergillus was the Italian botanist and cleric Micheli, who found that Aspergillus looked a bit like an aspergillum sprinkler (aspergillum) for sprinkling holy water, so the scientific name of Aspergillus became Aspergillus.
Aspergillus looks like a sprinkler. | Image from the web
Aspergillus is saprophytic, can grow in dead plants, animal carcasses and excrement, such as rotten and moldy grain, there are often a large number of aspergillus. Aspergillus is widely distributed in nature, from the South Pole to the North Pole, from air, grain, hay, soil, clothing, furniture and other places can be separated from Aspergillus. Aspergillus is so widely distributed that its spores are everywhere – in fact, we may inhale aspergillus spores every day.
Time-lapse photography of aspergillus growth | Image from the web
Seeing that someone here may be in a hurry, say okay don't worry about Aspergillus? Can you suck it every day and don't worry?
02
Infection with Aspergillus is not so easy
Only enough live pathogens can make people sick, and the same is true of Aspergillus. Our immune system is no means a decoration, and even if a small amount of Aspergillus spores can enter our respiratory tract, they will be stuck to the cilia, trapped in mucus, and finally invited out of the body with sneezing, coughing, phlegm, and snot. And our immune cells can also recognize invading spores and swallow them up to get rid of them. That way, we won't be infected.
The mucociliary system in the respiratory tract helps us block pathogens, | Image from the web
However, if there are too many spores sucked in and can't be processed, then they really have the potential to enter our lungs and settle down, and we will get sick. Like the woman in the case mentioned at the beginning of this article, it is because she helped the family deal with a large amount of moldy corn, coupled with no protection, resulting in inhalation of too many spores in a short period of time, and unfortunately fell ill.
In addition, when a person's immune system function becomes weak, it can also be prone to infection. For example, if you have other diseases such as tuberculosis, AIDS, etc., or if you have an organ transplant and are using immunosuppressants, because the immune system cannot work properly, even if there are not many aspergillus spores inhaled, it is still possible to be infected.
If the lungs are infected with Aspergillus, there will often be cough, low-grade fever, sputum and other symptoms, severe and even hemoptysis or even fatal, can be treated with antifungal antibiotics, if necessary, surgery.
Clean up moldy areas in your home, and don't forget to wear a mask. | Figureworm creative
Preventing Aspergillus infection is actually very simple, for healthy people, avoid inhaling a large number of Aspergillus spores is no problem, and it is very simple to do this on a daily basis - when we may encounter a large number of Aspergillus spores, wear a mask in advance, such as cleaning up old houses full of ashes, cleaning up items with long mold and so on. In the case of cleaning up moldy corn like in the news, it is more important to pay attention to protection.
Author | Ding Song
Audit | Zhang Wenjuan is the deputy chief physician of the Department of Respiratory Medicine of the Fourth People's Hospital of Chenzhou City, Hunan Province
Editor-in-charge | Zhou Ziqing
This article is produced by the "Scientific Rumor Dispelling Platform" (ID: Science_Facts), please indicate the source when reprinting.
This article is from the copyright gallery of images and is not reproduced with permission.
You might want to see it
▽