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Acute pulmonary histoplasmosis (APH) frequently occurs after heavy exposure to Histoplasma capsulatum. Although disease is usually self-limited, some patients require hospitalization, and early diagnosis would be helpful. Evidence that self-limited dissemination occurs in many individuals following infection suggests that antigenuria and antigenemia could be detected early in the disease course and might be used for diagnosis.
In a study funded by the developer of the Histoplasma antigen assay and performed, in part, by its employees, investigators examined urine and serum samples from 20 individuals involved in either of two recent histoplasmosis outbreaks. Antigenuria was detected in 12 samples (60%), and in an additional one (5%) after ul…