Blastomycosis Symptoms and Diagnosis

What Are the Symptoms of Blastomycosis?

Blastomycosis is a specific type of fungal pneumonia. Approximately 50% of people with blastomycosis do not have any symptoms. For those who do, symptoms typically start anywhere from three weeks to three months after exposure, can vary from mild to severe, and almost always begin in the lungs. Your initial symptoms may include:

• Fever
• Chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath
• Night sweats
• Muscle and joint pain
• Chest pain
• Fatigue (tiredness)

Untreated, these symptoms can progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome  or an invasive infection. An invasive infection happens when Blastomyces spores travel via your bloodstream and impact other body parts including your skin, bones, spinal cord and brain. These complications can be fatal.

Blastomycosis is often initially misdiagnosed. The symptoms are non-specific, meaning they do not point to a single cause of illness, so your healthcare provider is likely to start you on a course of antibiotic treatment for the most common cause of pneumonia. However, only antifungal medications can treat fungal pneumonia so unless you have the correct diagnosis you will be taking a medication that doesn’t work for your illness. If you have taken more than one course of antibiotics, are still experiencing symptoms and were potentially exposed to Blastomyces, ask your healthcare provider about testing for fungal pneumonia. 

The best way to avoid becoming severely ill is to tell your healthcare provider when you are experiencing initial symptoms, and if your symptoms do not resolve, so you can begin appropriate treatment.

How Blastomycosis is Diagnosed

The first thing your healthcare provider will do is take a detailed medical history, including any travel history and potential exposure. Then they will complete a physical examination and analyze your symptoms.

To diagnosis blastomycosis, your healthcare provider may take a sample of your blood, saliva, skin, urine or sputum (mucus you cough up from your lungs). They will send the sample to a lab to look for Blastomyces yeast, test for signs of Blastomyces or try to grow Blastomyces. They may also use a chest x-ray or CT scan to look at your lungs and may request a lung biopsy.