Pulmonary Histoplasmosis: An Infection Without Borders

Abstract

Histoplasmosis is a worldwide distributed infection, endemic in some regions of the United States of America, as well as in Central and South America, particularly in Brazil.

Human migration has been rapidly increasing globally, including in Portugal. Despite all its advantages, the growing movement of people from around the world reflects in the dissemination and emergence of new diseases, posing real diagnostic challenges for doctors and forcing them to be familiarized with entities not usually occurring in their region.

We describe the case of a patient originally from Brazil, currently living in Portugal, presenting with a 1-month history of respiratory symptoms and nonspecific findings on imaging studies. The growth of Histoplasma was confirmed in the culture of the bronchoalveolar lavage.