The likelihood of recovery from aspergillosis depends on any underlying medical conditions, the patient's general health, and the specific type of aspergillosis. If the problem is based on an allergic response, as in ABPA, the patient will likely respond well to systemic steroids. Unfortunately, the prognosis for the most serious form, invasive aspergillosis, is quite poor, largely because these patients have little resilience due to their underlying disorders. The course of the illness can be rapid, resulting in death within a few months of diagnosis. Hospitals and government health agencies continually seek ways to minimize exposure for hospitalized patients.
Practical suggestions are minimal but include moving leaf piles away from the house.
Unfortunately, overall avoidance of this fungus is all but impossible because it is present in the environment virtually everywhere. Research efforts are being directed at enhancing patients' resistance to Aspergillus rather than trying to eliminate exposure to the fungus. Given the growing number of people with immune disorders or whose immune systems have been suppressed in the course of treating another disease, research and clinical trials for new antifungal agents will be increasingly important in the future. Antibody A specific protein produced by the immune system in response to a specific foreign protein or particle called an antigen. A procedure that involves repeatedly washing the inside of the bronchial tubes of the lung.