Reports indicate that the first case of a sexually transmitted fungal infection has been reported in the United States.
The fungal infection has been identified as Trichophyton mentagrophytes type VII, also called TMVII. It is described as a “type of ringworm that is not fatal but hard to treat.”
More information entails that a man from New York City traveled to England, Greece, and California and was later found to have been infected. He had been sexually active with several men as he had traveled. When he had come back to the U.S., he is said to have had a “red, itchy rash on his legs and across his groin and buttocks.”
Experts say that the infection is usually discovered in Europe among same-sex male partners. The cause of the man’s TMVII has never been seen in the U.S. before.
The man was swiftly administered standard anti-fungal medications, and the infection will take about 4 months to subside.
“There’s no evidence that this is widespread or that this is something that people really need to be worried about. But, if people are having itchy eruptions in areas like the groin, and it’s not getting better, see a doctor,” stated Dr. Avrom Caplan, the assistant professor of dermatology at NYU.
