Actinomycosis

The causative agents of this disease are fungi of the genus Actinomyces, quite often found in an open environment. Most often they are sown from the soil, also from hay and straw, from the surface of plants. Spores of this pathogen often enter the patient’s body with food, together with air, or through mucous membranes or skin that are damaged.

Types of ailment

Most often, this disease is classified relative to the localization of infectious foci in the patient’s body (skin, abdominal, thoracic, etc.).

Symptoms of the disease

The symptoms of the disease vary depending on the localization of the process.

Cervical-maxillofacial. It is characterized by a greater spread than other forms. It can affect the intermuscular tissue, capturing the pharynx, larynx, tongue, trachea, cheeks in the process. The muscular form of this type of disease leads to the development of trism and facial asymmetry.

Thoracic. It is characterized in the initial stage by symptoms similar to ARVI. With the development of the process, the formation of fistulas appears, opening on the skin of the breast. Sometimes such fistulas come out on the skin of the thighs and in the lumbar region.

Cutaneous. It is characterized by the formation of characteristic seals in the subcutaneous tissue. Above them, the skin has a changed color. The seals are spherical and painful.

Abdominal. It is characterized by imitation of acute intestinal colic. It affects the intestines and is manifested by fistulas opening on the skin. The actinomycosis process in the rectum is manifested by symptoms of paroproctitis.

Articular (bone). It is characterized by the secondary nature of the process, when the pathogen enters the joints and bones from the primary lesions. Most often it occurs as osteomyelitis.

Mycetoma. A form of the disease characterized by the formation of dense formations on the sole in the form of peas with a fillet-brown color. The development of the process is characterized by swelling, a change in the shape of the foot, the formation of fistulas, the involvement of tendons, bones and muscles of the foot in the process.

Genitourinary. It is characterized by the secondary nature of the process, when the genitourinary organs are affected by the process from the abdominal region. A rather rare form of the disease.

Diagnostic program

With the development of the clinic of the disease, its diagnosis is simple. It is noteworthy that the detection of fungi in smears from the nasopharyngeal cavity is not diagnostically valuable, since they are also found in healthy people. Therefore, for the analysis, the discharge from the fistulas is taken or the contents are taken (puncture) from the affected organ.

Only bacterial culture is of diagnostic value. Since serological methods do not reveal the specificity of the disease, and the methods of PCR diagnostics for actinomycosis have not yet been created.

Treatment program

The main therapeutic factor for this ailment is the introduction of actinolysate. Concomitant treatment is antibacterial therapy, whose purpose is to suppress pathogenic flora and prevent possible secondary infection. The use of restorative therapy and detoxification measures is shown. Abscesses must be opened, fistulas treated, the pleural or abdominal cavity drained.

Prevention

Specific preventive measures for this ailment have not been developed. From non – specific preventive measures , it is necessary to distinguish:

compliance with hygiene rules;
treatment of chronic diseases of the oral cavity and gastrointestinal tract;
prevention of injury to the skin and mucous membranes;
timely sanitation of carious teeth.

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