Medics have sounded the alarm over mutant ‘genital super fungus’ that is increasingly spreading through sex.
Cases of the contagious infection dubbed a ‘potential public health threat’ have been on the rise in recent years, with it now being found in people after sexual contact.
The infection, which attacks the genitals, has been found to be multi-drug resistant and seems to respond only to some of the most-powerful anti-fungal treatments.
It also raises the prospect of infections becoming incurable—leaving patients battling agonising ‘skin-eating’ funguses for life.
Known as trichophyton mentagrophytes type VII (TMVII), was first cases were reported in Switzerland in 2014, linked to travel in Southeast Asia.
Since then TMVII-caused tinea genitalis, as the rash is known, have been seen in Germany, France and the US.
In a new report, Greek doctors detailed another case in Athens involving a gay man who attended an STI clinic with an itchy rash on his buttocks, abdomen and armpit.
Sharing the tale in a medical journal, they said the 36-year-old tested positive for TMVII but even with treatment only ‘showed a gradual but slow improvement’.
Cases of the contagious infection dubbed a ‘potential public health threat’ have been on the rise in recent years, with it now being found in people after sexual contact
In a new report, Greek doctors detailed another case in Athens involving a man who had had sex with his male partner and attended hospital with an itchy rash on his buttock, abdomen and armpit
It comes just months after experts told this website that the condition, which often causes painful rashes, was ‘very likely’ to be spreading undetected in Britain.
Lab tests to confirm cases of the ‘slow growing bug’ can take up to three weeks for results to come back, they warned.
The condition itself can lurk in the body for days before causing tell-tale symptoms, too.
Describing the new case, medics at Andreas Syngros Hospital of Venereal and Dermatological Diseases, said the patient had ring-shaped lesions on the skin and small, pus-filled, inflamed bumps.
Similar lesions had recently appeared on his partner, he said.
Doctors carried out tests for syphilis as well as a fungal culture, the latter of which confirmed the presence of TMVII.
Writing in QJM: An International Journal of Medicine, the medics said: ‘The patient was further questioned about his recent travel history or contact with domestic animals and revealed that his partner had traveled to North Africa one month prior to the appearance of the rash.’
It comes as US health officials in June confirmed one man in New York had become the first ever to contract the infection via sex in the US. Pictured, patient A
He was prescribed terbinafine and flutrimazole, antifungal medications typically used to treat fungal nail infections and ringworm.
However, a follow-up appointment three weeks later his skin showed ‘no improvement’ and he was switched to powerful antifungal medication itraconazole.
‘The patient was subsequently re-evaluated every two weeks showing gradual but slow improvement,’ doctors said.
After six weeks of treatment, the rash had cleared.
‘Physicians should remain vigilant in recognising and reporting cases of this emerging pathogen,’ they added.
‘TMVII is hypothesized to be transmitted from human-to-human through sexual contact.
‘Evidence supporting this transmission mode includes the typical localisation of the initial lesions in the genital or gluteal areas, and the higher incidence of cases among groups engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors, such as men who have sex with men.’
Then in November, US health officials also reported that a further three cases had been detected in the city. Pictured, patient B
Then in November, US health officials also reported that a further three cases had been detected in the city.
It comes as US health officials in June confirmed one man in New York had become the first ever to contract the infection via sex in the US.
He previously travelled to England, Greece and California, and said he had sexual encounters during his trips.
While not fatal, TMVII can leave sufferers with permanent scarring or pigmentation on areas of the skin that were infected.
The New York researchers warned the rashes experienced by people infected with this type of ringworm may also present differently than the more common ringworm and could be mistaken for eczema, leaving patients without relief for months.
Dr David Denning, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Manchester, told MailOnline it was ‘very likely that there are undetected cases’ in the UK, ‘particularly those in the early stages’.
He added: ‘Today if you had a rash on your chest or your back, you might not bother to deal with it for a week or two.
‘If you were to go to a doctor and they prescribe something like a steroid or antibacterial cream but it doesn’t work, we could be looking at six to eight weeks since it began.
He added: ‘It’s likely no more transmissable than other skin fungi but it is very inflammatory meaning you get a much worse rash and usual treatments don’t work.
Experts also cautioned ‘very long waiting lists’ for NHS dermatology treatment and ‘long waits’ for PCR test results could see at risk patients waiting weeks before the infection is confirmed.
