Freedom From Infection

Collecting eggs leads to serious infection.

Stephanie Baker loved animals. She worked as a Veterinary Technician, and she sometimes watched other peoples’ animals while they were out of town.

However, when a strange illness seemed to take over Stephanie’s body, she decided to take a break from work.

“I was having night sweats and vomiting. I didn’t have an appetite, so I was dropping weight quickly. I also had very swollen, large lymph nodes,” says Stephanie.

At first, Stephanie’s doctors did a biopsy on her lymph nodes, fearing it could be Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Her results were negative for cancer, but it did identify the source of Stephanie’s issues: Disseminated Histoplasmosis.

Histoplasmosis is an infection of the body caused by breathing in fungus spores found in bird and bat droppings. A person can become infected by just breathing in the air near soil contaminated by the droppings. The disease becomes Disseminated Histoplasmosis when it spreads through the body and infects the blood and organs.

“In my case, I had been working with chickens. Likely when I was out collecting eggs, I breathed some spores in. I didn’t realize at the time the GI medication I was on for Ulcerative Colitis made me more susceptible to getting the disease,” says Stephanie.

Stephanie was very sick when she first met Infectious Disease physician Phillip Beck, MD, of Boone Health Medical Group – Infectious Diseases.

“When coming up with a treatment plan for Stephanie, it was important to be aggressive from the very beginning. We used a strong antifungal medication called amphotericin to control the disease,” says Dr. Beck.

Stephanie spent several weeks in the hospital getting her amphotericin through an IV.

When Stephanie went home, she continued to take an oral antifungal that patients generally take for 6-12 months. But due to the severity of Stephanie’s symptoms, Dr. Beck recommended she take it for a whole year.

He also worked with Stephanie’s GI doctors to change her GI medication to something that didn’t increase her risk of developing Histoplasmosis.

“We switched her to something that stayed more localized to the gut and did not affect her immune system. That way we can cure the fungus and make sure it doesn’t come back,” says Dr. Beck.

Stephanie continues to have regular visits with Dr. Beck to check her progress. “I am doing so much better. I’m able to enjoy my life again,” says Stephanie. By Madison Loethen Boone Medical Group Infectious Diseases is staffed by Phillip Beck, MD. Dr. Beck earned his medical degree from MU, where he also completed his residency in Internal Medicine and his fellowship in Infectious Diseases.

Services Include:

• Bone/joint/skin infection

• Device/hardware infection

• Intra-abdominal infection

• Chest infection (lung, heart valves)

• Infection associated with diabetes, cancer

• Fungal infection

• Mycobacterial infection (MAC, TB)

• Viral hepatitis B/C

• HIV, PrEP

• Sexually transmitted infection

• Travel medicine

Location:

1705 E. Broadway Broadway Medical Plaza 4, Suite 300 Columbia, MO 65201

For more information on Infectious Diseases, please visit www.boone.health/services/id/ or call 573-815-3550.