Faculty Bibliography

Acute infection with Sin Nombre virus has been associated with development of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), a severe cardiopulmonary illness with respiratory failure and shock. We present two cases of Sin Nombre hantavirus infections that did not lead to marked pulmonary complications in two otherwise healthy young adults from Utah and California. Sin Nombre virus causes a wider spectrum of disease severity than has been previously reported.

Basidiobolus species are filamentous fungi belonging to the order Entomophthorales. Unlike other zygomycetes, Basidiobolus species have been mainly associated with a tropical form of subcutaneous zygomycosis in otherwise healthy individuals. Visceral disease caused by this pathogen is rare, but cases of gastrointestinal infection with Basidiobolus ranarum have been reported worldwide. In many of these reports, the inflammatory disease of the colon has been confused with Crohn's disease. We report the third case of B. ranarum gastrointestinal infection in the United States, which was initially treated as inflammatory bowel disease.