What is the Difference Between Mucormycosis and Aspergillosis

The key difference between mucormycosis and aspergillosis is that mucormycosis is a fungal disease caused by fungi in the order of Mucorales, while aspergillosis is a fungal disease caused by fungi in the genus of Aspergillus.

Fungal diseases can normally affect anyone. Mild fungal skin diseases can look like a normal rash, and they are very common. Fungal lung diseases are often very similar to bacterial or viral pneumonia. Some fungal diseases like fungal meningitis and infections in the bloodstream are less common than fungal skin infections and lung infections. But fungal meningitis and infections in the bloodstream can be deadly. Mucormycosis and aspergillosis are two fungal diseases.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Mucormycosis
3. What is Aspergillosis
4. Similarities – Mucormycosis and Aspergillosis
5. Mucormycosis vs Aspergillosis in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Mucormycosis vs Aspergillosis

What is Mucormycosis?

Mucormycosis is a fungal disease caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes. These fungi belong to the order of Mucorales (genera Rhizopus and Mucor). It is a rare but very dangerous fungal infection. This infection usually causes problems in the sinuses, lungs, skin, and brain. People can inhale the spores of the mold or come into contact with them in things like soil, rotting vegetables, or bread and compost piles. Mucormycosis can normally cause serious complications in immunocompromised people. The common symptoms may include runny nose, one-sided facial swelling and pain, fever, headache, blurred vision, bulging of the eye, and tissue death. When the lungs are infected, chest pain, breathing difficulties, and coughing up blood can be seen in patients. Moreover, stomachache, nausea, vomiting, and bleeding can occur when the gastrointestinal tract is involved.  Invasion into the blood can result in thrombosis and subsequent death of surrounding tissues.

Diagnosis of this infection can be made through biopsy, direct detection by using lung fluid, blood, serum, plasma, and urine, endoscopic examination, MRI, CT scan, and matrix-assisted laser desorption. Furthermore, the treatment options may include a combination of antifungal drugs (amphotericin B, isavuconazole, posaconazole), surgically removing infected tissues, and correcting underlying conditions such as diabetic ketoacidosis.

What is Aspergillosis?

Aspergillosis is a fungal disease caused by the fungi in the genus of Aspergillus. It is usually a common mold that is breathed from the air and usually does not affect most people. Aspergillosis generally affects people who have lung diseases like asthma, cystic fibrosis, or tuberculosis. It can also affect those who had a stem cell or organ transplant and those who can’t fight against infections due to medications like steroids. Aspergillosis can occur in humans, birds, and other animals. Acute cases of aspergillosis can often be observed in people with severely compromised immune systems like those undergo who bone marrow transplantation. Chronic infections can be observed in people with underlying respiratory illnesses such as asthma, cystic fibrosis, sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The typical symptoms may include balls in the lung, chest pain, coughing up blood, fever, chills, shocks, delirium, seizures, blood clots, kidney failure, liver failure, and fluid draining overnight from the ear. Normally, diagnosis of this medical condition is made through X-ray, CT scan, galactomannan test, and microscopy. Furthermore, the treatment options may include antifungal agents like voriconazole, liposomal amphotericin B, caspofungin, flucytosine, itraconazole, steroids, and surgical debridement.

What are the Similarities Between Mucormycosis and Aspergillosis?

• Mucormycosis and aspergillosis are two fungal diseases.
• Both medical conditions predominantly affect immunocompromised people and cause serious complications.
• Lung infections and systematic infections to other organs through the bloodstream are common in both medical conditions.
• They are lethal medical conditions due to systematic organ failure.
• They can be treated using antifungal agents and surgery.

What is the Difference Between Mucormycosis and Aspergillosis?

Mucormycosis is a fungal disease caused by fungi in the order of Mucorales, while aspergillosis is a fungal disease caused by the fungi in the genus of Aspergillus. Thus, this is the key difference between mucormycosis and aspergillosis. Furthermore, mucormycosis predominantly affects humans and marine mammals, while aspergillosis predominantly affects humans, birds, and other animals.

The below infographic presents the differences between mucormycosis and aspergillosis in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Mucormycosis vs Aspergillosis

Mucormycosis and aspergillosis are two fungal diseases. They affect immunocompromised people severely. Fungi in the order of Mucorales cause mucormycosis. Aspergillus fungi cause aspergillosis. So, this summarizes the difference between mucormycosis and aspergillosis.

Reference:

1. Avnish Sandhu, DO. “Mucormycosis (Zygomycosis).” Background, Etiology and Pathophysiology, Epidemiology, Medscape, 23 Aug. 2021.
2. “Aspergillosis.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 5 Feb. 2020.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Mucormycosis” By Ran Yuping et al. – [1] (CC BY 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Aspergillosis, angioinvasive (3679097189)” By Yale Rosen from USA – Aspergillosis, angioinvasive (CC BY-SA 2.0) via Commons Wikimedia