Mycoses
In the past years there has been an increasing incidence of invasive fungal infections, particularly in immunocompromised patients. These infections continue to pose a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Considering these facts, the authors report a clinical case of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis which illustrates the improved outcomes associated with the extended‐spectrum triazole, voriconazole,...
Pylephlebitis is defined as septic thrombophlebitis of the portal venous system, usually secondary to infection or inflammation in the abdomen. In the current report, we present a case of fungal pylephlebitis that complicated the course of pancreatitis and resolved with echinocandins.
A 50‐year old female was treated with anidulafungin after fluconazole treatment, for a complex clinical picture and immunosuppression. Anidulafungin was chosen when liver function test was abnormal in a setting of multiple causes of liver toxicity.
Here a patient is presented with a mediastinitis, pleural empyema and peritonitis with Candida glabrata and Enterococcus faecium after a complicated robot‐assisted thoracolaparoscopic oesophagolymphadectomy esophagectomy. This case description highlights some of the therapeutic dilemmas that physicians face when treating critically ill patients with health care‐associated invasive Candida infections...
The following case report describes a patient with acute liver failure who presented in multiple organ failure and required emergency liver transplantation. A complicated postoperative course lead to sepsis which did not respond to conventional anti bacterial therapy. Despite antifungal prophylaxis with an azole invasive candidiasis was diagnosed and the patient was successfully treated with anidulafungin...
Screening of 217 soil samples of different habitats, such as PG study centre, garden, farmhouse, nursery, roadside, hostel, animal habitat, bird habitat, marriage garden, temple, vegetable market and house dust, was carried out for the presence of dermatophytes and related fungi in relation to soil pH. A total of 461 isolates belonging to 26 genera and 34 species were recorded. Soil pH values vary...
Current treatment options for vulvovaginal candidiasis due to Candida albicans include over‐the‐counter and prescription antifungal agents. Fluconazole has been used extensively with an unknown impact on susceptibility. To investigate antifungal susceptibility trends in clinical vaginal isolates of C. albicans from 1986 to 2008, microdilution susceptibility was performed on randomly selected single...
Scedosporium prolificans is a saprophytic fungus responsible for an increasing number of infections among immunocompromised hosts. Most disseminated S. prolificans infections prove fatal due to persistent neutropenia, and inherited resistance to currently available antifungal drugs. The authors report a fatal case of a paediatric Korean patient who progressed to severe sepsis from S. prolificans infection...
Many studies have described the adherence of Candida albicans to epithelial cells but little is known about Candida parapsilosis adhesion and its role in host cell surface recognition. This study was designed to evaluate the correlation between the adherence of 20 C. albicans and 12 C. parapsilosis strains to human buccal epithelial cells and the expression of fungal cell surface carbohydrates using...
We created a clinical prediction rule to identify patients at risk of invasive candidiasis (IC) in the intensive care unit (ICU) (Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 2007; 26:271). The rule applies to <10% of patients in ICUs. We sought to create a more inclusive rule for clinical trials. Retrospective review of patients admitted to ICU ≥ 4 days, collecting risk factors and outcomes. Variations of...
An 83‐year‐old man presented with an approximately 1‐year history of an extensive inflammatory purulent crusted lesion in the bald area of the scalp diagnosed as tinea caused by Trichophyton rubrum. The scalp biopsy specimen showed suppurative folliculitis with perifollicular abscesses in upper dermis, and periodic acid‐Schiff‐positive fungal elements within the hair follicles and in the hyperkeratotic...
The effects of the addition of different amino nitrogens on growth, morphology and secondary metabolism of Malassezia furfur were investigated. After primary culture on Dixon agar, M. furfur CBS 1878 was transferred into a fluid medium together with the nitrogen sources, glycine (Gly) or tryptophan (Trp), or a combination of both. Growth was measured by means of a direct cell counting method and pigment...
Women suffering from recurrent vulvo‐vaginal candidosis (RVC) often follow medical and non‐medical advices to diminish the severity and frequency of the recurrences, but the impact of such interventions is unclear. The aim of this study was to identify differences in life style habits of women with RVC compared with normal women and to define which changes have influenced the frequency of recurrences...
This report presents a rare case of tinea capitis caused by Trichophyton soudanense and Microsporum audouinii in a 31‐year‐old woman from Senegal. The patient showed atrophic skin lesions causing cicatricial alopecia, scarring being caused by two aetiological agents uncommon in Spain.
Resveratrol is a natural stilbene synthesised by plants. This compound has been shown to inhibit the growth of Candida albicans TIMM 1768 efficiently. Till date, no information is available for other Candida species. The evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of resveratrol was analysed by the inhibition of the growth and metabolism assays. Our data indicate that resveratrol is not effective against...
Acremonium spp. are filamentous, cosmopolitan fungi frequently isolated from plant debris and soil, they are known to result in invasive infections in the setting of severe immunosuppression. In this letter, we present a case of catheter‐related fungaemia associated with Acremonium spp. in a patient with chronic renal failure. After removal of the subclavian catheter, the patient was treated successfully...
The occurrence of keratinophilic fungi associated with feather samples from 10 bird species was investigated using Mycobiotic Agar® following the incubation at 25 ± 2°C for 4 weeks. A total of 225 feather samples were cultured, of which 157 (69.77%) were found to be positive. Altogether 184 fungal isolates represented by 11 species and grouped into five genera were recovered viz. Chrysosporium, Trichophyton, Arthroderma, Scopulariopsis...
Candida albicans is increasing as an opportunistic pathogen causing candidemia and candidiasis worldwide. In addition, other non‐albicans Candida species are now also associated with pertinent infections. These include the closely related C. dubliniensis, which shares many phenotypic similarities with C. albicans. These similarities pose problems in the identification of isolates and have previously...
Haematological patients with neutropenic fever are frequently evaluated with chest computed tomography (CT) to rule out invasive fungal infections (IFI). We retrospectively analysed data from 100 consecutive patients with neutropenic fever and abnormal chest CT from 1998 to 2005 to evaluate their chest CT findings and the yield of diagnostic approaches employed. For their initial CTs, 79% had nodular...