Infection versus disease in South American blastomycosis.

The mechanism of infection in South American blastomycosis is discussed, and the probability of a mild or asymptomatic form of the disease, regressing spontaneously with subsequent immunity, in persons living in endemic areas. Primary lesions in the oral mucosa or in the skin have not been convincingly shown to occur in paracoccidioidomycosis. Several reports of systemic involvement of many organs with no evidence of skin and mucosal lesions support the theory of pulmonary entry.