Disseminated histoplasmosis revealed by peripheral blood smear in an African immigrant with AIDS

We report a case of disseminated histoplasmosis due to Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum in an African patient with AIDS (born in Ghana) and living in France. This opportunistic fungal infection has never been reported in Ghana, maybe because of limited means of investigation or ignorance. Nevertheless, it was reported in a Ghanaian immigrant living in Italy. In our patient, the first diagnosis was suggested by a peripheral blood smear, which is not a classical biological diagnostic method. The diagnostic interest and the frequency of positive peripheral blood smears in the course of disseminated histoplasmosis are probably under estimated. (C) 2007 Publie par Elsevier Masson SAS.