Paracoccidioidomycosis (South American blastomycosis)
Paracoccidioidomicosis (blastomicosis sudamericana)
- Date
- 1908 · confidence high
- Place
- São Paulo, Brazil
- Credited to
- Adolfo Lutz
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
Lutz described a severe mycosis of the mouth and digestive tract and distinguished it from other fungal infections. It is the most important systemic mycosis in Latin America.
The fungus received its current name (Paracoccidioides brasiliensis) in 1930 from Floriano de Almeida; Lutz identified it as a distinct entity.
What it led to
- Clinical definition of an endemic Latin American disease
- Description of the fungus by Splendore (1912) and Almeida (1930)
- Mycological diagnosis programmes in Brazil