Paracoccidioidomycosis Studies and Conferences in Medellin, Colombia

In 2008 the Tenth International Congress on Paracoccidioidomycosis held a centennial celebration in Medellin, Colombia.  The conference was held in August of that year, and drew a record crowd to hear the latest research on the mycoses of Paracoccidioidomycosis and other related fungal diseases.

Paracoccidioidomycosis, or more commonly called PCM, used to be known as South American blastomycosis, and sometimes also as Lutz-Splendore-Almeida disease. This illness is endemic to the regions of South and Central America, and usually attacks men who dwell in the highly forested areas of Latin America.

PCM most often shows itself as a chronic and constantly worsening systemic fungal infection (mycosis) most often exhibiting itself as a pulmonary fungal infection. However PCM often migrates into the rest of the body and attacks the mucous membranes, mostly in the mouth, on the skin and also in the lymph nodes.