page_title: Rhinosporidium seeberi
section_title: Clinical features
hierarchical_section_title: Rhinosporidium seeberi / Clinical features
caption_attribution_description: Dr. T. Balasubramanian www.drtbalu.com
context_page_description: Rhinosporidium seeberi is a eukaryotic pathogen responsible for rhinosporidiosis, a disease which affects humans, horses, dogs, and to a lesser extent cattle, cats, foxes, and birds. It is most commonly found in tropical areas, especially India and Sri Lanka.
  The pathogen was first identified in 1892, and was comprehensively described in 1900 by Seeber.
  Many aspects of the disease and of the pathogen Rhinosporidium seeberi remain problematic and enigmatic. These include the pathogen’s natural habitat, some aspects of its ‘lifecycle’, its immunology, some aspects of the epidemiology of the disease in humans and in animals, the reasons for the delay at in vitro culture, and establishment of disease in experimental animals, hence paucity of information on its sensitivity to drugs, and the immunology of the pathogen. Thankamani isolated an organism believed to be R. seeberi and gave the name "UMH.48." It was originally isolated from the biopsies and nasal swabs of rhinosporidiosis patients. The various developmental stages of UMH.48 showed a strong resemblance with the structures seen in hisopathological sections of rhinosporidiosis in tissue samples.
context_section_description: This organism infects the mucosa of the nasal cavity, producing a mass-like lesion. This mass appears to be polypoidal in nature with a granular surface speckled with whitish spores. The rhinosporidial mass has been classically described as a strawberry-like mulberry mass. This mass may extend from the nasal cavity into the nasopharynx and present itself in the oral cavity. These lesions commonly cause bleeding from the nasal cavity.
  R. seeberi can also affect the lacrimal gland and also rarely the skin and genitalia.
  Common sites affected:
  Nose – 78%
  Nasopharynx – 68%
  Tonsil – 3%
  Eye – 1%
  Skin – very rare
caption: Image showing a large rhinosporidial mass in the oropharynx of a patient
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