While treated with injection or intravenously, the average recovery time of leishmaniasis and the ulcers it causes is one month. Fungi, common in warm and damp climates, can cause external or deep-seated infections. Sporotrichosis, the most common urban fungal disease affecting individuals with healthy immune systems, normally is transmitted after the skin is punctured by a thorn or an animal bite. The affected skin becomes inflamed, red, and tender and may become ulcerated and secrete fluids. First treated in 1903, the same oral medication is still used today.
Tinea nigra is a rare fungal infection which causes a travelers' palms or soles to darken.
While it may be confused with melanoma, it can be treated with a topical fungal cream. White and black piedra affect the hair shaft, causing small brittle bumps that resemble stones. Although some African tribes value these as cosmetically important and induce the infection by sleeping with their head leaning on the fungi containing holes, these infections can be treated by shaving the hair or shampooing with an anti-fungal medication. The American Academy of Dermatology, founded in 1938, is the largest, most influential, and most representative of all dermatologic associations. American Academy of Dermatology, 1999.