Updating the Epidemiology of Blastomycosis and Histoplasmosis in the United States, Using National Electronic Health Record Data, 2013–2023
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Background
Where surveillance data are limited, nationally representative electronic health records allow for geographic, temporal, and demographic characterization of the fungal diseases blastomycosis and histoplasmosis.
Methods
We identified incident blastomycosis and histoplasmosis cases from 2013 to 2023 within Oracle EHR Real-World Data, which comprises 1.6 billion healthcare encounters nationally. To characterize spatiotemporal incidence trends, we used generalized estimating equations weighted for nonrepresentativeness of electronic health record–reporting facilities. We computed standardized incidence rate ratios (sIRRs), which relay relative differences in standardized incidence rates between regions, race/ethnicity, gender, and age subgroups and the national population.
Results
National incidence rates in 2023 were 2.4 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.6–3.5) and 1.9 times (95% CI: 1.6–2.2) rates in 2013, for blastomycosis and histoplasmosis, respectively. Blastomycosis incidence rates among Hispanic or Latino and non-Hispanic Black individuals were 60% (sIRR: 1.6 [95% CI: 1.0–2.4]) and 30% (sIRR: 1.3 [95% CI: 1.0–1.6]) higher than the standardized national incidence rate. Histoplasmosis incidence rates were elevated among non-Hispanic White patients (sIRR: 1.05 [95% CI: 1.02–1.08]). Standardized incidence rates of both diseases were higher among older and male patients, were consistently elevated in the Upper Midwest and Ohio Valley regions, and increased greatly in the Northern Rockies and Plains from 2013 to 2023. We estimated high incidence in states (blastomycosis: Illinois, Kentucky, and West Virginia; histoplasmosis: Missouri, Iowa, and Oklahoma) that do not report to surveillance.
Conclusions
This analysis revealed increasing incidence rates of blastomycosis and histoplasmosis, with increasing diagnoses outside of historically endemic regions, and notable differences in incidence by race/ethnicity, gender, and age.
