Histoplasmosis in Africa: Current perspectives, knowledge gaps, and research priorities

Abstract

Background AUHistoplasmosis: Pleaseconfirmthatallheadinglevelsarerepresentedcorrectly: is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by the thermally dimorphic fungus Histoplasma capsulatum. The 2 variants Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum (Hcc) and Histoplasma capsulatum var. duboisii (Hcd) causes infection in humans and com-monly termed classical or American histoplasmosis and African histoplasmosis, respec-tively. Histoplasma capsulatum var. farciminosum (Hcf) affects equines. In recent times, there have been heightened sensitization on fungal infections such as histoplasmosis in Africa, aimed at improving awareness among relevant stakeholders, particularly healthcare workers. This effort is expected to be paralleled with increased detection of both classical and African histoplasmosis, which has remained underdiagnosed over the years. In this narrative review, we describe the current perspectives of histoplasmosis in Africa, identify knowledge gaps, and suggest research priorities. Methods A PubMed, Google Scholar, and Africa Journal Online (AJOL) literature search was conducted for studies on histoplasmosis in Africa between 2000 and 2020. Histoplasmosis essays in medical mycology textbooks were also consulted. This narrative review was pre-pared from the data gathered. Findings In the past 2 decades, histoplasmosis in general has seen a relative increase in case detection in some Africa countries, probably attributable to the gradually increasing medical.