Question

A fungus, like the one that causes Athlete's Foot, causes disease by

Answer 1

The fungus that causes athlete's foot is called Trichophyton, and is commonly found on floors and in clothing.

Answer 2

The fungus genus Trichophyton is characterized by the development of both smooth-walled macro- and microconidia. Macroconidia are mostly borne laterally directly on the hyphae or on short pedicels, and are thin- or thick-walled, clavate to fusiform, and range from 4 to 8 by 8 to 50 μm in size. Macroconidia are few or absent in many species. Microconidia are spherical, pyriform to clavate or of irregular shape, and range from 2 to 3 by 2 to 4 μm in size. Trichophyton species are the most common cause of athlete's foot (tinea pedis).
(Wikipedia)

Answer 3

Fungi are "decomposers."
What that means is that they feed and grow by breaking down organic tissue (like human tissue), and causing it to rot.

Many fungi cause diseases in humans by making special proteins that cause human cells to break down.

This is when our bodies start to release "cytokines."
It leads to itching and inflammation.

When our white blood cells realize that the fungus is destroying our other cells,
our white blood cells try to destroy the fungus.

But here's a problem: the fungus is attached to our healthy cells.

So, when our white blood cells try to destroy the fungus,
our healthy cells also get destroyed.

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Some fungi cause disease by releasing toxins. Poisons.
These poisons can destroy our healthy cells.
They can also cause mutations in our DNA, which would lead to cancer.