Occurrence of Albifimbria verrucaria in the Blood of a Female Child With Neuroblastoma

Frontiers in Medicine

article

Riccardo Masetti¹  Antonio Prodi²  Andrea Liberatore³  Filomena Carfagnini⁴  Eleonora Cappelletti²  Davide Leardini¹  Andrea Pession¹  Elena De Carolis⁵  Monica Cricca³ 

[1] Hematology-Oncology Unit, Department of Pediatrics, University of Bologna;Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna;Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, University of Bologna;Sant'Orsola Malpighi Hospital;Institute of Microbiology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Polyclinic University Foundation Agostino Gemelli

关键词: blood;    neuroblastoma;    immunodeficiency;    invasive infection;    filamentous fungus;    Albifimbria verrucaria;    climatic change adaption;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmed.2020.00013

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

We report for the first time the occurrence of a filamentous fungus, Albifimbria verrucaria , in the blood of a pediatric neuroblastoma patient. The Albifimbria genus comprises common soil-inhabiting and saprophytic fungi and has been isolated as a plant pathogen in Northern and Southern Italy. As a human pathogen, A. verrucaria has been implicated in keratitis and can produce trichothecene toxins, which are weakly cytotoxic for mammalian cell lines. A. verrucaria was isolated from blood during the follow-up of a previous coagulase-negative Staphylococcus catheter-related infection. Lung nodules, compatible with fungal infection, had been observed on a CT scan 6 months earlier; they still persist. Possible routes of transmission were considered to be airborne, catheter related, or transfusion dependent, as the patient had undergone platelet and red blood cell transfusions during rescue chemotherapy. No filamentous fungi were isolated from sputum or CVCs. In conclusion, we describe an unprecedented fungemia caused by A. verrucaria and show how an unexpected pathogen may be acquired from the environment by patients at high risk due to immunosuppression. The route of transmission remains unknown.

【 授权许可】

CC BY