Medical mycology development and epidemiology in the USA, UK and Japan

Medical mycology is a relatively young sub-discipline of medicine, institutionalized principally after the Second World War. In this paper, I will trace the process leading to the establishment of medical mycology in the United States, United Kingdom and Japan, three of the most important players in the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology (ISHAM) today. Throughout the paper, I will highlight both common features and the unique trajectory found in each country. The latter point resulted from the relative emphasis placed upon certain phenomena in each country. In the US, it was environmental conditions, tradition of soil sciences and particular settings of public health, which all created a stage for medical mycology. In Britain, among many medical specialists involved in building a society for medical mycology, contributions of those in tropical medicine and veterinary science stood out, and after the war, studies of allergy and bronchopulmonary aspergillosis and participation of the MRC were decisive. In Japan, concrete reports on visceral candidiasis and the so-called Bikini Incident were critical determinants. It appears that, although medical mycology emerged almost concomitantly in the three countries, the paths taken were different, thus seemingly the origins and pathways of modern medical mycology in each country ought to be understood in terms of broader historical themes.