Sporotrichosis historical perspective

The first definitive case of sporotrichosis was described by Benjamin Schenck, an American medical student, in 1896.

• The first definitive case of sporotrichosis was described by Benjamin Schenck, an American medical student, in Baltimore, Maryland in 1896. Schenck isolated Sporothrix schenckii from lesions manifesting on the right arm and index finger of a 36-year-old male patient. Schenck sent the fungus sample to Dr. Erwin Smith, a mycologist at the United States Department of Agriculture, for further study. Smith erroneously determined that the fungus sample belonged to the genus Sporotrichum.^[1]
• Linck, in 1809, and Lutz, in 1889, discussed potential cases of sporotrichosis. Though their descriptions were similar to Schneck’s, definite diagnosis was not possible, as neither author was able to isolate the fungal organism.^[2]
• In 1900 in Chicago, Illinois, Ludvig Hektoen, M.D. and C. F. Perkins, M.D. described the second definitive case of sporotrichosis, after isolating the fungus from a lesion on a young male patient’s finger. Hektoen and Perkins established the current denomination, Sporothrix schenckii, for the sporotrichosis agent.