Question

Name the target organs for the following disease:
Fungal disease targets ________.

Answer 1

Hint: Fungus is a diverse kingdom of unicellular as well as multicellular organisms. Fungus ranges from yeast that is single-celled to large mushroom bodies. These are usually beneficial but many are parasitic. They cause various infections and food spoilage. Symptoms of fungal infections are skin rashes, irritation, discoloration of the skin, etc.

Complete answer: A fungus is a diverse group of organisms that have various advantages and disadvantages at the same time. The fungus is used in various fermentation processes utilizing yeast. Mushrooms are a species of fungus that is known for its high nutritional value. But various fungal species like Alternaria, Trichoderma, Aspergillus, etc. are harmful to human beings directly or indirectly. Fungi cause various plant diseases, food spoilage, animal diseases, and human diseases. Some important diseases caused by the fungus to humans are allergies, lung diseases, ear infections, nail infections, etc. The common thing in most of the fungal diseases is that they target the skin. The major class of fungi causes disease of the outer surface of hair and skin. These diseases are called superficial mycosis. In such diseases, no lining of tissue is invaded and no cellular response is given by the host. The Piedra species causes superficial mycosis. Collectively these skin and hair infection-causing fungi groups are called Piedras. Black and white piedra are examples of scalp infection. Tineas a specific disease-causing fungal group is limited to skin infections only. Disease caused by Tineas involves outer skin, nails, and sometimes hair. Tinea versicolor is a disease caused by Tinea species called Malassezia furfur. It is characterized by the appearance of brownish-red scales on the skin of the neck, face, and arms.

Thus, from the above discussion, we can conclude that the target organ for fungal diseases is the skin.

Note: Other types of infections caused by fungus are cutaneous mycosis, subcutaneous mycosis, and systemic mycosis. Cutaneous mycosis is characterized by ringworms. These diseases are called dermatomycosis as they target the dermal layer or the skin of humans but to a deeper extent where cellular responses of the host are involved. Tolnaftate and clotrimazole are some of the treatments for fungal infections.