Molecular analyses of Fusarium isolates recovered from a cluster of invasive mold infections in a Brazilian hospital

BMC Infectious Diseases

Research Article

S Arunmozhi Balajee¹  Steven F Hurst²  Christina M Scheel²  Marcio Nucci³  Gloria Barreiros³  Tiyomi Akiti³ 

[1] Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA;Mycotic Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA;University Hospital, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;

关键词: Fusarium;    Invasive fusariosis;    Molecular epidemiology;    Multi-locus sequence typing;    Invasive fungal infection;    Bone marrow transplant;    Hospital-associated infection;    Community acquired disease;    Brazil;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2334-13-49

 received in 2012-05-17, accepted in 2013-01-23,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundInvasive fusariosis (IF) is a rare but often fatal fungal infection in immunosuppressed patients. In 2007, cases of IF above the expected epidemiologic baseline were detected in the hematology ward of a hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Possible sources of infection were investigated by performing environmental sampling and patient isolate collection, followed by molecular typing. Isolates from dermatology patients with superficial fusariosis were included in the study for comparison to molecular types found in the community.MethodsEnvironmental sampling focused on water-related sources in and around the hematology ward. Initially, we characterized 166 clinical and environmental isolates using the Fusarium translation elongation factor 1α (EF-1α) genetic locus. Isolates included 68 collected from water-related sources in the hospital environment, 55 from 18 hematology patients, and 43 from the skin/nails of 40 outpatients seen at the hospital dermatology clinic. Multi-locus sequence typing was performed on Fusarium solani species complex (FSSC) species 1 and 2 isolates to investigate their relatedness further.ResultsMost of the hematology samples were FSSC species 2, with species type FSSC 2-d the most commonly isolated from these patients. Most of the outpatient dermatology samples were also FSSC 2, with type 2-d again predominating. In contrast, environmental isolates from water sources were mostly Fusarium oxysporum species complex (FOSC) and those from air samples mostly Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti species complex (FIESC). A third of the environmental samples were FSSC, with species types FSSC 1-a and FSSC 1-b predominating.ConclusionsFusarium isolate species types from hematology patient infections were highly similar to those recovered from dermatology patients in the community. Four species types (FSSC 1-a, 1-b, 2-d and 2-f) were shared between hematology patients and the environment. Limitations in environmental sampling do not allow for nosocomial sources of infection to be ruled out. Future studies will focus on environmental factors that may have influenced the prevalence of FSSC fusariosis in this hematology ward.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Scheel et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013