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While Penicillin is a drug manufactured from mold and is used around the world to help fight infections, there are other kinds of penicillium molds that can cause disease.  A species of penicillium that is native to Southeast Asia, has been known to cause infections in the region where HIV and AIDs have become epidemic and the condition resulting from these infections has been named Penicilliosis.

Penicilliosis is a kind of infection that is caused by the mold Penicillium marneffei and studies show that it currently the third most occurring opportunistic infection in individuals infected with HIV and AIDS in Southeast Asia.  This fungus occurs in high numbers throughout the region and is generally restricted to the area. 

As with all molds, it is a fungus at room temperature, but when it makes its way into the body and is heated up to body temperature, it becomes a yeast.  The symptoms of such an infection can include skin lesions, generalized lymphadenopathy, hepatomegaly, anemia, and fever; abdominal pain has also been noted along with weight loss.  Sometimes the skin lesions can appear on the ears, fingers, toes, genitalia, and on the face.  Cases of pneumonia have been reported to occur, as well.  The most often occurring symptom of penicilliosis is a skin rash that forms small bumps on the surface of the skin and they often have ulceration and this commonly happens on the upper part of the body.

While the mold that causes this condition is endemic to Southeast Asia, anyone traveling to the region is at risk to become infected; however, it rarely occurs in individuals who do not have a weakened immune system.  Anyone who has HIV or AIDS is advised to either be extremely careful if traveling to the region or to not travel to the region at all. 

Without treatment, these infections have quite a high mortality rate and even with treatment, the mortality rate hovers at around twenty percent.  Before AIDS became an epidemic, cases of this mold causing any kind of infection were rare.

Biopses of lymph nodes, bone marrow, and skin lesions can detect the presence of the fungi.  The fungal cultures that are grown from the swabbing of skin lesions or other samples taken from a person’s body are characterized by a flat green surface and a deep red color underneath.  Antifungal therapy with amphotericin, followed by maintenance treatment with a drug called itraconazole is recommended.

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