Sepsis and Fungal Infections

Fungi are all around us. Their microscopic spores are on the ground and in the air. Most of these fungi are harmless. However, certain types can cause serious fungal infections in some people.

Fungal infections can occur anywhere in your body but most commonly, they begin on your skin. Most cause some discomfort, such as redness and itching. Usually over-the-counter or prescription medications take care of this. Sometimes these skin infections do not heal though and they worsen, possibly causing sepsis. When a fungus is inhaled and enters your body or is introduced into your body in another way, the risk of infection rises, especially if you have an impaired immune system. People with impaired immune systems are more likely to develop sepsis with fungal infections than people with normal immune systems.

Sepsis, which was often called blood poisoning, is the body’s life-threatening response to infection. Like strokes or heart attacks, sepsis is a medical emergency that requires rapid diagnosis and treatment.

Suggested Citation:
Sepsis Alliance. Sepsis and Fungal Infections. 2024 https://www.sepsis.org/sepsisand/fungal-infections/

Updated January 5, 2024.

 

More About Fungal Infections

Examples

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are millions of different species of fungi on Earth. About 300 are known to make people sick. Fungi live outdoors in soil and on plants and trees. They may also live on indoor surfaces and human skin. The most well-known types of fungal infections include:

  • Athlete’s foot
  • Vaginal yeast infection
  • “Jock itch”
  • Ringworm

The most common types of fungi that cause serious or life-threatening infections include:

  • Aspergillus, which causes aspergillosis. It most often affects people with lung disease or a weakened immune system
  • Candida, which causes candidiasis, also called thrush. If it enters the blood system, it is called invasive candidiasis.
  • Histoplasma, which causes histoplasmosis when the spores enter the lungs. The majority of people who inhale the spores will not become ill, but it can cause serious illness, especially among people with a weakened immune system.
  • Pneumocystis jirovecii, which causes pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP). This fungus generally causes serious illness in people who have impaired immune systems, particularly immune system impairment caused by HIV/AIDS or corticosteroid use.

In 2012, there was an outbreak of fungal meningitis in some parts of the United States. This type of meningitis is not contagious. Contaminated steroid injections in the spine caused it.

Valley fever, or coccidioidomycosis, is caused by a fungus found in the soil in the southwest U.S., particularly in California. There have been rising numbers of Valley fever in California, tripling over the past few years.

 

Symptoms

Fungal infection symptoms depend on where the infection is. For example:

  • A vaginal yeast infection usually causes itching and foul discharge from the vagina.
  • A fungal infection on the skin may cause redness, itching, flaking, and swelling.
  • A fungal infection in the lungs may cause coughing, fever, chest pain, and muscle aches.
Risk Factors

There are some factors that can increase your risk of contracting a fungal infection. Those at higher risk include people who:

  • Have a lowered immune system because of medications, such as steroids, or disease, such as HIV.
  • Had an organ transplant.
  • Work with the soil, or in areas where they are in contact with bird or bat excrement.
  • Use communal showers or locker rooms.
  • Are taking antibiotics.
  • Travel in areas where fungi are more present, such as the Southwest and Pacific Northwest, where the fungus that causes Valley fever is found.
Prevention

Some precautions can prevent many fungal infections. For example, to reduce the risk of developing athlete’s foot, it’s important to keep your feet clean and dry. If walking in a locker room, pool, or a communal shower, wear flip flops or sandals to keep your skin from touching the floor. To reduce the risk of a vaginal yeast infection, it’s important to wear “breathable” underwear, avoid using scented sprays or powders, and practice good hygiene.

To prevent inhaling spores which can cause a lung infection, wear a mask when working in an area where fungal spores may be stirred up and get into the air you are breathing, such as chicken coops or other areas where there may be bird or bat droppings, as well as decaying vegetation, which can happen when you’re working in the garden.

Treatment

Fungal infections are treated with anti-fungal medications specific to the particular fungus that caused the infection. These medications can be cream or ointment, suppository, or pill form. Fungal infections that cause sepsis are treated with intravenous anti-fungal drugs. Antibiotics are not used for fungal infections because they are not effective.

Some fungal infections are becoming harder to treat because the fungi are becoming resistant to the medications that used to kill them. This is called antimicrobial resistance, AMR. In October 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a first-ever list of 19 fungi that appear to be the biggest threat to public health. These particular fungi most often affect people who are already seriously ill, with impaired immune systems. These include people who have cancer or chronic respiratory diseases, among others, or have had an organ transplant. The WHO report is available here.

Related Resources

Information Guide

Fungal Infection

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Rachel Goney

On 12/15/2021 I began my journey through sepsis. Let me go back about a week prior to that date I told my husband I felt like I was dying inside. I went to see my doctor on 12/9/2021. For pain in my lower back, shooting around to my left hip and down my leg. She listened to my lungs, took my vitals and diagnosed me with a slipped disc. No X-rays, no blood work, just prescribed pain meds and steroids. Well on the 15th I tried to get up and use the restroom. But when I tried to stand my ... Read Full Story

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Linda Jones

I woke up with pain. Daughter took me to ER. I thought I was having a heart attack. Pain across shoulder blades and neck. ER doc misdiagnosed me and sent me home same day. He did only tests to rule our heart attack. No blood work done. He sent me home with diagnosis of muscle spasms and a prescription for valium. Sepsis was already in my body. A day or 2 later I fell in bathroom, hit my head. I came to and could not move. I was completely paralyzed. My organs were all shutting down. The only thing that ... Read Full Story

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Annmarie Williams

Hi I am Annmarie. In 2010 I got a stomach bug and it’s changed my life. What ever the bug did affected my motility, then my gallbladder was removed. I ended up on IV nutrition in 2019. I have gastroparesis and likely severe sibo (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). In 2020 January, I had sepsis, a bad pseudomonas infection. Luckily antibiotics worked. I then had another infection in April 2020 and a yeast infection after. (Sepsis and Bacterial Infections, Sepsis and Fungal Infections) Some how I fell pregnant with twins in June but didn’t know until September when I was 18 ... Read Full Story

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Leslie Alden

I had gastric bypass revision on 9/24/19. Came home on 9/26. (Sepsis and Surgery) Two weeks later terrible pain in my back and went to ER. I had a leak from my surgery, severe UTI and a collapsed lung. I had no idea I had any of that going on. (Sepsis and Urinary Tract Infections) I ended up with sepsis, had to have a chest tube, over a liter of fluid was drained from the collapsed lung. I had a fungal infection in that lung. (Sepsis and Fungal Infections) I was on an antifungal medication for that and had to ... Read Full Story

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Caroline Pennington

My wife Caroline has been suffering with illness for a couple years now. Hard to say when it started but really showed symptoms in the past few years. Started with losing mobility in her hand. She was a medical massage therapist, one of the best, and had to quit working. Countless doctor visits with just as many tests. All tests coming back with no explanation of why this was happening. Needless to say my wife was losing hope. Symptoms were getting worse. Her right foot started having the same problem as her hand. Digestive issues and constant pain were plaguing ... Read Full Story

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Fungal Infections