Man develops serious fungal infection in lungs from sniffing his dirty socks daily

A man from China has recently been diagnosed with a serious lung infection after he contracted after smelling his dirt socks after every day after work. Identified as Li Qi in local media reports, the man had approached a hospital after he had terrible coughing fits that kept him up at night.

Li told the media that even drinking cough syrup did not help, and soon he developed bloodshot eyes. Li then rushed to the Southwest Hospital of the Army Medical University where CT and MRI scans showed signs of infection in his right lung, The Sun reported.

According to Liang Peiqiang, chief physician of the department of respiratory medicine at the hospital the test showed that Li was suffering from a fungal lung disease caused by aspergillus infection. Breathing in tiny spores of the fungus can cause an infection called aspergillosis, which tends to cause respiratory problems.

The mould usually grows in moist environments such as soil, rotting leaves etc. But it can also crop up in dust, damp buildings, bedding, and ACs. While the doctors were trying to figure out where he might have caught it from. But then, Li told them about his habit of smelling his socks after taking them off at the end of the day.