Sporothrix schenckii, a fungus that can be found worldwide in the environment, is named for medical student Benjamin Schenck, who in 1896 was the first to isolate it from a human specimen.

"[2] The most common route of infection is the introduction of spores to the body through a cut or puncture wound in the skin.

The transition between the hyphal and yeast forms is temperature dependent making S. schenckii a thermally dimorphic fungus.

[12] Immunocompromised individuals are at increased risk of infection and such patients often exhibit more severe forms of disease.

[18] The cutaneous form of disease is caused by introduction of S. schenckii into the body through disruption of the skin barrier.

[21] Therefore, accurate patient histories are important[2] to establish suspicion of sporotrichosis and to inform which diagnostic tests are required.

[1] S. schenckii infection may also be confused with other diseases such as pyoderma gangrenosum[20] or sarcoidosis[22] further underscoring the need for accurate diagnoses.

[16] Sabouraud agar is incubated at room temperature for macroscopic observation of the off-white or dark brown/black hyphal form of the fungus and microscopic examination of hyphae and conidia.

[20] Growth on media occurs in approximately one to three weeks[16] meaning that results from patient cultures will not be immediately available to make treatment decisions.

A skin test uses an antigen generated from laboratory grown S. schenckii to challenge the patient's immune system.

The specific antigen used in skin testing is not standardized with multiple studies being conducted with widely varying preparations.

However, owing to its simplicity, skin testing remains the method of choice for large-scale epidemiological investigations.

[24] PCR methods that specifically amplify the ribosomal RNA gene have been shown to detect S. schenckii in clinical samples with minimal interference from host or bacterial sequences.

[13] In vitro susceptibility to antifungal drugs has been shown to be dependent on the growth phase (hyphal or yeast) of the fungus.

[27] Oral administration of a saturated potassium iodide solution was the first effective treatment for sporotrichosis and remains the drug of choice in many parts of the world owing to its low cost and availability.

[32] Substrates for these proteases include the skin proteins type-I collagen, stratum corneum, and elastin.

It is hypothesized that ergosterol peroxide reacts with and detoxifies reactive oxygen species generated by the respiratory burst used by phagocytes to kill cells they have ingested.

[34] S. schenckii is also capable of modulating the immune response to promote its own survival by blocking cytokine production by macrophages.

This fact, combined with the increased severity of disease in immunocompromised patients points to an important role for specific immunity in S. schenckii infection.