Are yeast infections fungal?
Yeasts and molds belong to the fungal kingdom, and so are not plants, animals or bacteria. While not all types of fungus are dangerous to humans, some types are pathogenic (disease-causing), giving rise to ailments such as vaginal yeast infections.VaginitisAn estimated three out of four women will at some point suffer from a yeast infection, most commonly in or near the vagina. This disease, known as vaginitis, is caused by a fungus called Candida albicans, found widely in nature as well as in the human body.InfectionCandida, the fungus that causes yeast infections of the esophagus (esophagitis), mouth (thrush) and vagina (vaginitis), is a single-celled organism with a spheroid shape. At the temperature of the human body, around 37 degrees C or 98.6 degrees F, it grows filaments, or threads, called hyphae that penetrate tissues.Risk FactorsThe fungus that causes yeast infections is present in most people’s bodies all the time. Normally, the immune system keeps it under control, but any
