scholarly journals Opportunistic Mycoses in COVID-19 patients/survivors: Epidemic inside a pandemic

Author(s):  
Haripriya Kuchi Bhotla ◽  
Balamuralikrishnan Balasubramanian ◽  
Arun Meyyazhagan ◽  
Karthika Pushparaj ◽  
Murugesh Easwaran ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Sivayogana R. ◽  
Madhu R. ◽  
Ramesh A. ◽  
Dhanalakshmi U. R.

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Deep mycoses which<strong> </strong>includes subcutaneous mycoses and systemic mycoses, accounts for about 1% of the all the fungal infections seen in human beings. Though rare, these infections assume significance due to the increased morbidity and mortality associated with them. The objective of the study was to study the incidence, clinical presentation, aetiological agents and histopathological findings of deep mycoses in patients attending the mycology section, department of dermatology of a tertiary centre in Chennai.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> All Patients with clinical suspicion of deep mycoses who presented to mycology section during the period from November 2015 to September 2016 were screened. The samples from these patients were subjected to direct microscopy by potassium hydroxide wet mount, culture and histopathology.<strong></strong></p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Among the 8250 patients who attended mycology OPD, 41 patients (0.5%) had deep mycoses. The commonly affected age group was 41-50 yrs (29.7%). Males (73.2%) were predominantly affected. Of the 41 patients, 26.8% were immunocompromised. 37 patients (90.2%) had subcutaneous infection and 4 (9.8%) had opportunistic mycoses. Mycetoma (43.2%) was the most common subcutaneous mycoses. Mucormycosis (75%) and aspergillosis (25%) were the opportunistic mycoses observed. KOH positivity was 100%, while culture positivity was 65.7%. <em>Madurella mycetomatis,</em> <em>Phialophora verrucosa</em>, <em>Rhizopus arrhizus</em> and <em>Aspergillus fumigatus</em> were the common organisms isolated in this study.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Mycetoma is the most common subcutaneous mycoses in this part of India. Eumycetoma is more common than actinomycetoma. Phaeohyphomycosis is on the rise. Simple KOH examination would pave way for an early diagnosis and prompt treatment of deep mycoses.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 1025
Author(s):  
Carmen Rodríguez-Cerdeira ◽  
Erick Martínez-Herrera ◽  
Gabriella Fabbrocini ◽  
Beatriz Sanchez-Blanco ◽  
Adriana López-Barcenas ◽  
...  

The most important aetiological agent of opportunistic mycoses worldwide is Candida spp. These yeasts can cause severe infections in the host, which may be fatal. Isolates of Candida albicans occur with greater frequency and variable resistance patterns. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been recognised as an alternative treatment to kill pathogenic microorganisms. PDT utilises a photosensitizer, which is activated at a specific wavelength and oxygen concentration. Their reaction yields reactive oxygen species that kill the infectious microorganism. A systematic review of new applications of PDT in the management of candidiasis was performed. Of the 222 studies selected for in-depth screening, 84 were included in this study. All the studies reported the antifungal effectiveness, toxicity and dosimetry of treatment with antimicrobial PDT (aPDT) with different photosensitizers against Candida spp. The manuscripts that are discussed reveal the breadth of the new applications of aPDT against Candida spp., which are resistant to common antifungals. aPDT has superior performance compared to conventional antifungal therapies. With further studies, aPDT should prove valuable in daily clinical practice.


2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (11) ◽  
pp. 827-836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rossana de Aguiar Cordeiro ◽  
Rosana Serpa ◽  
Francisca Jakelyne de Farias Marques ◽  
Charlline Vládia Silva de Melo ◽  
Antonio José de Jesus Evangelista ◽  
...  

In recent years, the search for drugs to treat systemic and opportunistic mycoses has attracted great interest from the scientific community. This study evaluated the in vitro inhibitory effect of the antituberculosis drugs isoniazid and ethionamide alone and combined with itraconazole and fluconazole against biofilms of Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii. Antimicrobials were tested at defined concentrations after susceptibility assays with Cryptococcus planktonic cells. In addition, we investigated the synergistic interaction of antituberculosis drugs and azole derivatives against Cryptococcus planktonic cells, as well as the influence of isoniazid and ethionamide on ergosterol content and cell membrane permeability. Isoniazid and ethionamide inhibited both biofilm formation and viability of mature biofilms. Combinations formed by antituberculosis drugs and azoles proved synergic against both planktonic and sessile cells, showing an ability to reduce Cryptococcus biofilms by approximately 50%. Furthermore, isoniazid and ethionamide reduced the content of ergosterol in Cryptococcus spp. planktonic cells and destabilized or permeabilized the fungal cell membrane, leading to leakage of macromolecules. Owing to the paucity of drugs able to inhibit Cryptococcus biofilms, we believe that the results presented here might be of interest in the designing of new antifungal compounds.


Introduction: Mucormycosis refers to a group of opportunistic mycoses that occur generally in immunocompromised patients and are caused by Mucorales, ubiquitous filamentous fungi with broad, thin-walled, sparsely septate, ribbon-like hyphae. Case report: A 57-year-old man with a history of secondary biliary cirrhosis due to inadvertent bile duct injury during cholecystectomy. He was referred to our center and underwent LT on June 2018. Due to severe coagulopathy he underwent exploratory laparotomy and abdominal packing for 48 hours. He recovered with good liver function and LFT´s with a tendency towards normalization. On post op day 8 the patient presented an episode of fever and a CT scan was performed showing a large zone of hypoperfusion with bubbles of gas in the liver dome. A percutaneous biopsy was taken for cultures. Preliminary results reported a filamentous fungus and liposomal amphotericin b was initiated with the suspicion of mucormycosis. The patient remained afebrile and asymptomatic. After 5 days of treatment a new image was performed, and progression of the lesion was noticed, due to these findings the patient was taken to the OR for surgical debridement. Involvement of the liver dome and diaphragm was noticed and a non-anatomic hepatectomy was performed. After surgery the patient required increasing amounts of vasopressors. Despite all the support he progressed to multiple organic failure and finally expired. The product of hepatectomy confirmed the diagnosis of mucormycosis (Rhizopus sp). Discussion: Despite all the efforts the patients’ clinical condition deteriorated after surgery showing the high mortality rate in liver transplant recipients that has been reported of 50 to 100%.


Mycoses ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 193-200
Author(s):  
A. N. Aravysky ◽  
L. Danilova-Perley

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (9) ◽  
pp. 2927-2934 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah A. Ahmed ◽  
Nicole Desbois ◽  
D. Quist ◽  
C. Miossec ◽  
Carlos Atoche ◽  
...  

Among the opportunistic mycoses that are emerging in patients with immunosuppression or severe underlying illness, many isolates lack of characteristic sporulation and until recently could not be identified. Clinical signs are mostly nonspecific and therefore such infections have often been disregarded. In the present paper we describe a novel, nonsporulating fungal species causing subcutaneous phaeohyphomycosis in two patients of different origin. One is a 73-year-old female from Martinique who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, while the other case concerns a 72-year-old male from Mexico who had a history of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Sequencing of the partial ribosomal operon revealed that in both cases a member of the orderPleosporaleswas concerned which could not be affiliated to any family within this order. Multilocus analysis revealed that the fungus was related to another, unaffiliated agent of human mycetoma,Pseudochaetosphaeronema larense, and therefore the namePseudochaetosphaeronema martinelliwas introduced.


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