infections
Histoplasmosis
Treatment of Histoplasmosis
Antifungal medications Acute pulmonary histoplasmosisin otherwise healthy people rarely requires medications. However, if people do not improve after a month,itraconazole, given by mouth, is often prescribed. If severe pneumonia develops, people are givenamphotericin Bintravenously, followed byitraconazole. Progressive disseminated histoplasmosisrequires treatment. If the infection is severe,amphotericin Bis given intravenously, followed byitraconazole, given by mouth. , for the rest of their life. However, they may be able to stop the antifungal medication treatment after 1 year if their CD4 count (the number of one type of white blood cell that decrease when AIDS is uncontrolled) increases to 150 or more cells per microliter of blood. may eliminate the fungus. However, treatment cannot reverse the destruction caused by the infection. Thus, most people continue to have breathing problems, similar to those caused by Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) . Therefore, treatment should begin as soon as possible to limit lung damage. 