ABSTRACT
The epidemiologic aspects of paracoccidioidomycosis are less understood than those of other systemic mycoses. There are many missing links in the chain connecting man and armadillos to the fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis. Paracoccidioidomycosis is a systemic mycosis restricted to a single continent, the Americas. It occurs from Mexico to Argentina. Since paracoccidioidomycosis is not a notifiable disease, its real prevalence and incidence cannot be precisely established. The greatest frequency of active and progressive forms of paracoccidioidomycosis occurs in patients between 30 and 50 years of age. Franco et al. defined paracoccidioidomycosis infection as an asymptomatic infection caused by P. brasiliensis in normal individuals who live in an endemic area and prove reactive to the paracoccidioidin skin test. Asymptomatic infection may also be considered to exist in those individuals who have positive serological tests but are free of clinical manifestations.
