Fungal infection from regulator?

[GeorgeBa]

Hi,

I am living in the tropics (in a country with very poor health care) and recently came down ill. I developed a fever and gum infection over night. The fever was at its worst for the first 48 hours. The gum infection was treated with Nystatin by a dentist (in a neighboring country) who suggested oral candida. The gum infection cleared up after a week but three weeks later and I have a cough, clammy sweats and intermittent daily fever.

The gum infection etc seemed to come from nowhere with no obvious cause and I am naturally concerned that I still have on going symptoms. My question is this….I dive a lot out here and on checking my regulators see an orange slime growth covering the diaphragm and generally coating inside the primary second stage. Does anyone know what the orange growth could be and if this could potentially cause things such as fungal gum or lung infections? (I remember the case with the bcd bladder causing fungal lung infection.

Not interested in general opinions please but from anyone with direct experience or educated relating to this

Thank you,

George

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

@rsingler @Duke Dive Medicine

 

[34109411]

Hi,

I am living in the tropics (in a country with very poor health care) and recently came down ill. I developed a fever and gum infection over night. The fever was at its worst for the first 48 hours. The gum infection was treated with Nystatin by a dentist (in a neighboring country) who suggested oral candida. The gum infection cleared up after a week but three weeks later and I have a cough, clammy sweats and intermittent daily fever.

The gum infection etc seemed to come from nowhere with no obvious cause and I am naturally concerned that I still have on going symptoms. My question is this….I dive a lot out here and on checking my regulators see an orange slime growth covering the diaphragm and generally coating inside the primary second stage. Does anyone know what the orange growth could be and if this could potentially cause things such as fungal gum or lung infections? (I remember the case with the bcd bladder causing fungal lung infection.

Not interested in general opinions please but from anyone with direct experience or educated relating to this

Thank you,

George

picture of the orange slim ?

 

[Nemrod]

The red slime is red mold. For red mold to develop the spores must come into contact with a moist surface. Perhaps where you store your gear already has an infestation and your gear is becoming contaminated there?

You might consider rinsing your equipment using a sterilizer like Steramine at the end of a dive day. As well, I prefer regulator second stages like the Scubapro G250/G260 which have a hard cover and purge that can easily be turned off to dry the interior after a dive without tools. Dilute vinegar or bleach should kill it or the Steramine.

You can drop a Steramine pill into your BC bladder and into your rinse tank for all of your gear.

Yes, I have seen red mold inside a regulator and on BCs stored damp in dark closets. I do not know if this is the cause of your illness but people can and do have sensitivities/allergies to molds.

 

[ofg-1]

Do you have treated drinking water or are you using a cistern and rain water? If you have a cistern, go and look inside of it. I lived with a cistern a coupe of years, the entire inside was coated with various slime, inducing red .

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Hi,

I am living in the tropics (in a country with very poor health care) and recently came down ill. I developed a fever and gum infection over night. The fever was at its worst for the first 48 hours. The gum infection was treated with Nystatin by a dentist (in a neighboring country) who suggested oral candida. The gum infection cleared up after a week but three weeks later and I have a cough, clammy sweats and intermittent daily fever.

The gum infection etc seemed to come from nowhere with no obvious cause and I am naturally concerned that I still have on going symptoms. My question is this….I dive a lot out here and on checking my regulators see an orange slime growth covering the diaphragm and generally coating inside the primary second stage. Does anyone know what the orange growth could be and if this could potentially cause things such as fungal gum or lung infections? (I remember the case with the bcd bladder causing fungal lung infection.

Not interested in general opinions please but from anyone with direct experience or educated relating to this

Thank you,

George

Hi @GeorgeBa ,

I'm making a couple of leaps here, but if the nystatin cured the oral fungal infection but you're still having symptoms, it's possible that it has spread to the sinuses. Fungal sinus infections are not to be ignored as they can worsen and become life-threatening. If you're at all concerned that this is what is happening, then I'd recommend you go to the nearest emergency department. If your country of origin is the UK and the medical care where you're currently living is as poor as you say it is, then it might be worth considering a trip home.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[uncfnp]

Thoughts only…

If all symptoms are related, it was not simple oral candidiasis. “Thrush” is localized to the mouth and sometimes throat. Most common in infants and older adults but medications, immune disorders and diabetes increases the risk in adults. It is not associated with fever.

If all the symptoms are related, DDM nailed it in that the illness is systemic which means that the infection has moved beyond the mouth and could include the sinuses, lungs or even the blood.

A second possibility is that the symptoms and thrush is a result of another issue, such as diabetes or immune disease that has increased your susceptibility to infection.

A third possibility is that the original gum infection was not candidiasis but a bacterial form of gingivitis that has now also spread.

And of course there is always the possibility that the illnesses are not related but coincidental in time and we are just looking for Zebras.

Bottom line, seek care.

 

[chillyinCanada]

If you're closer to Malaysia than home, there is very good medical care there. It isn't expensive. For example you can get a full medical work up, that covers absolutely everything, like the CEO's of international companies get for $400.
If you have travel medical insurance, and I hope that you do, it should cover everything. If you don't, it's just not that expensive comparatively.

You haven't told us where you are, so we are left with the other option of saying that you need to get home.

 

[GeorgeBa]

Many thanks for the replies, they are along the lines of my thinking. The fact that the nystatin worked and I did have white patches on my gums makes me think it was likely candida and its likely to be in my throat and or other places.
I have worked as a shellfish diver in scotland and my kit would often sit set up and unwashed for many months on deck (I appreciate its not wise but it was as it was) and when I would come to clean/service them would see a similar orange mold/slime. I was just concerned given its the tropics and that I am sick that perhaps they could be related so wanted other opinions.
Looking online it seems that most people that have an oral candida tend to have issues and take nystatin for anywhere from 2 weeks to a month. For the moment I have bought more and will take it for a further week (I only took it for 1 week previously) and see if there is improvement, if not I will seek medical help again. I am in Indonesia so, as ChillyinCanada rightly says, Malaysia is a great place to get sorted.
Thank you

 

[chillyinCanada]

Many thanks for the replies, they are along the lines of my thinking. The fact that the nystatin worked and I did have white patches on my gums makes me think it was likely candida and its likely to be in my throat and or other places.
I have worked as a shellfish diver in scotland and my kit would often sit set up and unwashed for many months on deck (I appreciate its not wise but it was as it was) and when I would come to clean/service them would see a similar orange mold/slime. I was just concerned given its the tropics and that I am sick that perhaps they could be related so wanted other opinions.
Looking online it seems that most people that have an oral candida tend to have issues and take nystatin for anywhere from 2 weeks to a month. For the moment I have bought more and will take it for a further week (I only took it for 1 week previously) and see if there is improvement, if not I will seek medical help again. I am in Indonesia so, as ChillyinCanada rightly says, Malaysia is a great place to get sorted.
Thank you

Don't wait too long.