A serendipitous isolate of Histoplasma capsulatum

Abstract

This is a report of an unexpected laboratory diagnosis of Histoplasma capsulatum. The fungus was isolated from an acute cellulitic lesion on the forearm of an elderly male patient with a functioning renal transplant. The patient resides within the environs of Brisbane and has not travelled outside Australia. We consider the isolation of H. capsulatum from a rare site in a patient resident in a non-endemic area indicative of a latent opportunistic infection in an immunocompromised patient.