MEDALL

Oral thrush is a condition in which the fungus Candida albicans accumulates on the lining of your mouth.

Oral thrush causes creamy white lesions, usually on your tongue or inner cheeks. The lesions can be painful and may bleed slightly when you scrape them. Sometimes oral thrush may spread to the roof of your mouth, your gums, tonsils or the back of your throat.

Although oral thrush can affect anyone, it's more likely to occur in babies and people who wear dentures, use inhaled corticosteroids or have compromised immune systems. Oral thrush is a minor problem if you're healthy, but if you have a weakened immune system, symptoms of oral thrush may be more severe and difficult to control.

• HIV/AIDS - The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) - the virus that causes AIDS - damages or destroys cells of your immune system, making you more susceptible to opportunistic infections that your body would normally resist. Repeated bouts of oral thrush may be the first sign of an HIV infection.
• Cancer - If you're dealing with cancer, your immune system is likely to be weakened both from the disease and from treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation, increasing your risk of candida infections such as oral thrush.
• Diabetes mellitus - If you don't know you have diabetes or the disease isn't well controlled, your saliva may contain large amounts of sugar, which encourages the growth of candida.
• Vaginal yeast infections - Vaginal yeast infections are caused by the same fungus that causes oral thrush. Although a yeast infection isn't dangerous, if you're pregnant you can pass the fungus to your baby during delivery. As a result, your newborn may develop oral thrush.

• Creamy, white lesions on your tongue, inner cheeks and sometimes on the roof of your mouth, gums and tonsils
• Lesions with a cottage cheese-like appearance
• Pain
• Slight bleeding if the lesions are rubbed or scraped
• Cracking at the corners of your mouth
• A cottony feeling in your mouth
• Loss of taste

If you have a weakened immune system (for example, if you are HIV-positive or receiving chemotherapy), Candida can spread throughout your body, causing infection in your esophagus (esophagitis), brain (meningitis), heart (endocarditis), joints (arthritis), or eyes (endophthalmitis).