Narrator: Fungi are everywhere in our world…taking advantage of warm, moist environments to grow and prosper. It's no different on our bodies.
Suephy Chen, MD: It's always a battle between the body's immune system and what it can do versus the organism.
And so, if for some reason, there's just more organisms than what the body can handle, it can be pretty widespread.
Ah, that's all dark and green.
Narrator: Babies, due to their immature immune systems, are often at risk. The moist environment of the diaper is particulary attractive to the yeast fungus.
Hansa Bhargava, MD: if you've tried to treat it with a barrier cream and it's not getting better or it's lasting for more than two to three days
or if it's really angry looking and it's in the creases of your child's legs and private areas, those are reasons that you might think its yeast as opposed to something else.
Narrator: When yeast attacks baby's mouth, it's called thrush. Look for small white patches that don't easily wipe off. It's most common while mom is breastfeeding.
Hansa Bhargava, MD: It's really important that if your baby has thrush that you treat it, but also you want to treat yourself as well.
Narrator: Yeast also loves skin folds.
Suephy Chen, MD: Where you have skin-touching-skin and it gets wet there usually from sweat, that's where the yeast likes to setup shop.
Diabetics tend to be predisposed because they're just enough immunocompromised and a lot of diabetics are also overweight,
and so they have folds in their skin that trap moisture and that's just what the yeast loves, it's that moist environment…
Narrator: Another common fungal skin infection is called tinea versicolor…
Suephy Chen, MD: It's called versicolor because it can come in many different kinds of colors and it takes on this very spotty sort of appearance
kind of like a Jackson Pollock type of painting where you might be spattering paint…
It's incredibly easy to kill but it's incredibly easy to get it again just because it does like particular skin types.
Narrator: Athlete's foot and other areas affected by ringworm tend to create the most havoc, probably because we offer ringworm so many opportunities to spread.
Swimming pools, locker rooms and other communal areas can be hotbeds for picking up a fungal skin infection.
Narrator: Pets can also be carriers.
Suephy Chen, MD: Definitely, pets can give people ringworm. And so, if they're starting to scratch more in a particular area, look at their skin
and see whether or not they're developing their own ringworm and the vets, you know have ways of treating them.
Narrator: While most fungal skin infections can be frustratingly frequent if you're susceptible, they aren't usually life threatening.
But if you are immune-compromised and garden, farm or live in certain geographic areas of the U.S. there is danger.
Suephy Chen, MD: There are a lot bad actors in terms of fungus or fungi and those can be very deep into the skin and they can even invade even into the blood stream,
they can be in your lungs, and people who have intact immune systems, their body can take care of it and that's not a problem
but,if your immune system is compromised then these types of fungal organisms can really set up shop and take root in the body.
Narrator: For WebMD I'm Sandee LaMotte.
