Search

This study was conducted in Côte d’Ivoire to determine the respective prevalence of Candida species and to study their susceptibility profile to antifungal agents to identify the emergence of resistance.This retrospective study was conducted from 2017 to 2019 at the Institute Pasteur of Côte d’Ivoire on patients with fungal disease. The yeasts isolated and identified in Côte d’Ivoire were subcultured on a chromogenic medium and identified with MALDI-TOF-MS. Sensitivity tests were performed using the CLSI method and evaluated by the M27. In total, 227 Candida spp. were isolated from 1941 patients. Most of the samples were vaginal swabs (120/228). Using the conventional method, C. albicans was prevalent (52.6%). There were mixtures of 2 to 4 species in 36.8% of the samples. Thus MALDI-TOF-MS identified in 315 isolates 13 distinct species, C. tropicalis was prevalent at 35.2%, and the species in both C. albicans and C. parapsilosis complexes were differentiated. This study highlights the hurdle of correct yeast identification in developing countries. The transition from conventional to modern MALDI-TOF based identification of these life-threatening opportunistic pathogens is mandatory and should be emphasised as a public health priority.

© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved., The present study employed data collected during the Mycosands survey to investigate the environmental factors influencing yeasts and molds distribution along European shores applying a species distribution modelling approach. Occurrence data were compared to climatic datasets (temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation), soil datasets (chemical and physical properties), and water datasets (temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll-a concentration) downloaded from web databases. Analyses were performed by MaxEnt software. Results suggested a different probability of distribution of yeasts and molds along European shores. Yeasts seem to tolerate low temperatures better during winter than molds and this reflects a higher suitability for the Northern European coasts. This difference is more evident considering suitability in waters. Both distributions of molds and yeasts are influenced by basic soil pH, probably because acidic soils are more favorable to bacterial growth. Soils with high nitrogen concentrations are not suitable for fungal growth, which, in contrast, are optimal for plant growth, favored by this environment. Finally, molds show affinity with soil rich in nickel and yeasts with soils rich in cadmium resulting in a distribution mainly at the mouths of European rivers or lagoons, where these metals accumulate in river sediments., Ana Sampaio thanks to the Foundation for Science and Technology and FEDER under Programe PT2020 for financial support to CITAB (UID/AGR/04033/2020)

The gut microbiota has recently been associated with susceptibility/resistance to malaria in animal models and humans, yet the impact of the gut microbiota on the risk of a malaria attack remains to be assessed. This study aims at assessing the influence of the gut microbiota on malaria attacks and Plasmodium parasitæmia in children living in a malaria-endemic area in Mali. Three hundred healthy children were included in a 16-months cohort study in Bandiagara. Their gut bacteria and fungi community structures were characterised via 16S and ITS metabarcoding from stool samples collected at inclusion. Clinician team monitored the occurrence of malaria attacks. Asymptomatic carriage of Plasmodium was assessed by qPCR. Over the 16-month period, 107 (36%) children experienced at least one occurrence of malaria attacks, and 82 (27%) at least one asymptomatic Plasmodium parasitæmia episode. A higher gut bacteria richness was independently associated with susceptibility to asymptomatic parasitæmia episodes and malaria attacks; while the Shannon H diversity and Chao-1 richness index of gut fungi community structure was relatively homogeneous in children who were and were not infected with P. falciparum. Using a linear discriminant effect size analysis of operational taxonomic units assigned to the species level, 17 bacteria, including Clostridiaceae, Eubacteriaceae, Senegalimassilia sp., Atopobiaceae and Lachnosipraceae, and seven fungi, including Dioszegia fristigensis, Ogataea polymorpha and Cutaneotrichosporon cyanovorans, were associated with susceptibility; whereas eight bacteria, including, Bifidobacterium spp., Weissela confusa and Peptostreptococcacea, and 3 fungi, Malassezia sp., Niesslia exosporoides, and Didymocrea leucaenae, were associated with resistance to malaria. Moreover, 15 bacteria, including Coproccus eutactus, Terrisporobacter petrolearius, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Ruminococcaceae, and 13 fungi, including Wallemia mellicola, were associated with susceptibility, whereas 19 bacteria, including Bifidobacterium spp., Bacteroides fragilis, Peptostreptococcacea, and Lactobacillus ruminis, and three fungi, including Cryptococcus neoformans, were associated with resistance to asymptomatic Plasmodium parasitæmia episodes. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings that point the way towards strategies aiming to reduce the risk of malaria by modulating gut microbiota components in at-risk populations.

The goal of most studies published on sand contaminants is to gather and discuss knowledge to avoid faecal contamination of water by run-offs and tide-retractions. Other life forms in the sand, however, are seldom studied but always pointed out as relevant. The Mycosands initiative was created to generate data on fungi in beach sands and waters, of both coastal and freshwater inland bathing sites. A team of medical mycologists and water quality specialists explored the sand culturable mycobiota of 91 bathing sites, and water of 67 of these, spanning from the Atlantic to the Eastern Mediterranean coasts, including the Italian lakes and the Adriatic, Baltic, and Black Seas. Sydney (Australia) was also included in the study. Thirteen countries took part in the initiative. The present study considered several fungal parameters (all fungi, several species of the genus Aspergillus and Candida and the genera themselves, plus other yeasts, allergenic fungi, dematiaceous fungi and dermatophytes). The study considered four variables that the team expected would influence the results of the analytical parameters, such as coast or inland location, urban and non-urban sites, period of the year, geographical proximity and type of sediment. The genera most frequently found were Aspergillus spp., Candida spp., Fusarium spp. and Cryptococcus spp. both in sand and in water. A site-blind median was found to be 89 Colony-Forming Units (CFU) of fungi per gram of sand in coastal and inland freshwaters, with variability between 0 and 6400 CFU/g. For freshwater sites, that number was 201.7 CFU/g (0, 6400 CFU/g (p = 0.01)) and for coastal sites was 76.7 CFU/g (0, 3497.5 CFU/g). For coastal waters and all waters, the median was 0 CFU/ml (0, 1592 CFU/ml) and for freshwaters 6.7 (0, 310.0) CFU/ml (p < 0.001). The results advocate that beaches should be monitored for fungi for safer use and better management. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.

Background Plasmodium falciparum resistance to most antimalarial compounds has emerged in Southeast Asia and spread to Africa. In this context, the development of new antimalarial drugs is urgent. Objectives To determine the baseline in vitro activity of methylene blue (Proveblue®) on African isolates and to determine whether parasites have different phenotypes of susceptibility to methylene blue. Methods Ex vivo susceptibility to methylene blue was measured for 609 P. falciparum isolates of patients hospitalized in France for malaria imported from Africa. A Bayesian statistical analysis was designed to describe the distribution of median effective concentration (EC50) estimates. Results The EC50 ranged from 0.16 to 87.2 nM with a geometric mean of 7.17 nM (95% CI = 6.21–8.13). The 609 EC50 values were categorized into four components: A (mean = 2.5 nM; 95% CI = 2.28–2.72), B (mean = 7.44 nM; 95% CI = 7.07–7.81), C (mean = 16.29 nM; 95% CI = 15.40–17.18) and D (mean = 38.49 nM; 95% CI = 34.14–42.84). The threshold value for in vitro reduced susceptibility to methylene blue was estimated at 35 nM using the geometric mean of EC50 plus 2 SDs of the 609 isolates. This cut-off also corresponds to the lower limit of the 95% CI of the methylene blue EC50 of component D. Thirty-five isolates (5.7%) displayed EC50 values above this threshold. Conclusions Methylene blue exerts a promising efficacy against P. falciparum and is a potential partner for triple combinations.

A total of 476 European isolates (310 Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii, 150 C. neoformans var. neoformans, and 16 C. gattii species complex) from both clinical and environmental sources were analyzed by multi-locus sequence typing. Phylogenetic and population genetic analyses were performed. Sequence analysis identified 74 sequence types among C. neoformans var. neoformans (VNIV), 65 among C. neoformans var. grubii (56 VNI, 8 VNII, 1 VNB), and 5 among the C. gattii species complex (4 VGI and 1 VGIV) isolates. ST23 was the most frequent genotype (22%) among VNI isolates which were mostly grouped in a large clonal cluster including 50% of isolates. Among VNIV isolates, a predominant genotype was not identified. A high percentage of autochthonous STs were identified in both VNI (71%) and VNIV (96%) group of isolates. The 16 European C. gattii species complex isolates analyzed in the present study originated all from the environment and all belonged to a large cluster endemic in the Mediterranean area. Population genetic analysis confirmed that VNI group of isolates were characterized by low variability and clonal expansion while VNIV by a higher variability and a number of recombination events. However, when VNI and VNIV environmental isolates were compared, they showed a similar population structure with a high percentage of shared mutations and the absence of fixed mutations. Also linkage disequilibrium analysis reveals differences between clinical and environmental isolates showing a key role of PLB1 allele combinations in host infection as well as the key role of LAC1 allele combinations for survival of the fungus in the environment. The present study shows that genetic comparison of clinical and environmental isolates represents a first step to understand the genetic characteristics that cause the shift of some genotypes from a saprophytic to a parasitic life style. © 2019 Elsevier Inc.

Invasive fungal infections, such as aspergillosis, candidiasis, and cryptococcosis, have significantly increased among immunocompromised people. To tackle these infections the first and most decisive step is the accurate identification of the causal pathogen. Routine identification of invasive fungal infections has progressed away from culture-dependent methods toward molecular techniques, including DNA barcoding, a highly efficient and widely used diagnostic technique. Fungal DNA barcoding previously relied on a single barcoding region, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. However, this allowed only for 75% of all fungi to be correctly identified. As such, the translational elongation factor 1α (TEF1α) was recently introduced as the secondary barcode region to close the gap. Both loci together form the dual fungal DNA barcoding scheme. As a result, the ISHAM Barcoding Database has been expanded to include sequences for both barcoding regions to enable practical implementation of the dual barcoding scheme into clinical practice. The present study investigates the impact of the secondary barcode on the identification of clinically important fungal taxa, that have been demonstrated to cause severe invasive disease. Analysis of the barcoding regions was performed using barcoding gap analysis based on the genetic distances generated with the Kimura 2-parameter model. The secondary barcode demonstrated an improvement in identification for all taxa that were unidentifiable with the primary barcode, and when combined with the primary barcode ensured accurate identification for all taxa analyzed, making DNA barcoding an important, efficient and reliable addition to the diagnostic toolset of invasive fungal infections. Copyright © 2019 Hoang, Irinyi, Chen, Sorrell, the ISHAM Barcoding of Medical Fungi Working Group and Meyer. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Background. In central Africa, millions of individuals infected with Loa loa have received the anthelminthic drug ivermectin (IVM) as part of mass drug administration (MDA) campaigns targeting onchocerciasis control or elimination. Nonetheless, the parasitological surveys that are occasionally conducted to evaluate the impact of IVM treatments on Onchocerca volvulus do not include an assessment of the extra benefits of those MDA campaigns on L. loa. Methods. We conducted a systematic review of trials on the effect of a single standard (150-200 mu g/kg) dose of IVM on L. loa microfilarial density (MFD). The dynamics of MFD over 365 days of treatment were described using multilevel regression and latent class modeling. Results. IVM brings about a rapid, dramatic, and sustained decrease, with reduction rates of 60%, 75%, 85%, and 90% on day 1 (D1), D2, D7, and D365, respectively. At D365, no participants (0/238) with an initial MFD of = 20 000 mf/mL presented with an MFD above this value. The main predictor of post-treatment MFD was the pretreatment value, but this post-treatment value varied little between D8 and D365 regardless of the pretreatment level. Conclusions. A single dose of IVM is very effective at substantially reducing L. loa MFD for at least a year, irrespective of the initial level of parasitemia. Individuals treated with IVM are probably not any more at risk of severe adverse events when retreated 1 year later.

A total of 476 European isolates (310 Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii, 150 C. neoformans var. neoformans, and 16 C. gattii species complex) from both clinical and environmental sources were analyzed by multi-locus sequence typing. Phylogenetic and population genetic analyses were performed. Sequence analysis identified 74 sequence types among C. neoformans var. neoformans (VNIV), 65 among C. neoformans var. grubii (56 VNI, 8 VNII, 1 VNB), and 5 among the C. gattii species complex (4 VGI and 1 VGIV) isolates. ST23 was the most frequent genotype (22%) among VNI isolates which were mostly grouped in a large clonal cluster including 50% of isolates. Among VNIV isolates, a predominant genotype was not identified. A high percentage of autochthonous STs were identified in both VNI (71%) and VNIV (96%) group of isolates. The 16 European C. gattii species complex isolates analyzed in the present study originated all from the environment and all belonged to a large cluster endemic in the Mediterranean area. Population genetic analysis confirmed that VNI group of isolates were characterized by low variability and clonal expansion while VNIV by a higher variability and a number of recombination events. However, when VNI and VNIV environmental isolates were compared, they showed a similar population structure with a high percentage of shared mutations and the absence of fixed mutations. Also linkage disequilibrium analysis reveals differences between clinical and environmental isolates showing a key role of PLB1 allele combinations in host infection as well as the key role of LAC1 allele combinations for survival of the fungus in the environment. The present study shows that genetic comparison of clinical and environmental isolates represents a first step to understand the genetic characteristics that cause the shift of some genotypes from a saprophytic to a parasitic life style. C1 [Cogliati, Massimo] Univ Milan, Dip Sci Biomed Sallee, Via Pascal 36, I-20133 Milan, Italy. [Desnos-Ollivier, Marie] CNRS, UMR2000, Natl Reference Ctr Invas Mycoses & Antifungal, Inst Pasteur,Mol Mycol Unit, Paris, France. [McCormick-Smith, Ilka; Rickerts, Volker] Robert Koch Inst, Berlin, Germany. [Ferreira-Paim, Kennio; Meyer, Wieland] Univ Sydney, Marie Bashier Inst Emerging Infect Dis & Biosecur, Westmead Inst Med Res,Sydney Med Sch,Westmead Cli, Mol Mycol Res Lab,Ctr Infect Dis,Fac Med & Hlth,W, Westmead, NSW, Australia. [Ferreira-Paim, Kennio] Univ Fed Triangulo Mineiro, Dept Microbiol, Uberaba, MG, Brazil. [Boekhout, Teun; Hagen, Ferry; Theelen, Bart] Westerdijk Fungal Biodivers Inst, Utrecht, Netherlands. [Boekhout, Teun] Univ Amsterdam, IBED, Amsterdam, Netherlands. [Inacio, Joao; Alonso, Beatriz] Univ Brighton, Sch Pharm & Biomol Sci, Brighton, E Sussex, England. [Alonso, Beatriz] Hosp Gegorio Maranon, Inst Invest Sanitaria Gregorio Maranon IisGM, Madrid, Spain. [Colom, Maria F.] Univ Miguel Hernandez, Alicante, Spain. [Trilles, Luciana] Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. [Montagna, Maria Teresa] Univ Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy. [De Donno, Antonella] Univ Salento, DiSTeBA, Lecce, Italy. [Susever, Serdar] Cyprus Near East Univ, Nicosia, Cyprus. [Ergin, Cagri] Pamukkale Univ, Denizli, Turkey. [Velegraki, Aristea] Univ Athens, Med Sch, Athens, Greece. [Ellabib, Mohamed S.] Univ Tripoli, Med Coll, Tripoli, Libya. [Nardoni, Simona] Univ Pisa, Pisa, Italy. [Macci, Cristina] CNR, Res Inst Terr Ecosystems IRET, Pisa, Italy. [Trovato, Laura] Univ Catania, Catania, Italy. [Dipineto, Ludovico] Univ Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy. [Akcaglar, Sevim] Uludag Univ, Sch Med, Bursa, Turkey. [Mlinaric-Missoni, Emilija] Croatian Natl Inst Publ Hlth, Zagreb, Croatia. [Bertout, Sebastien] Univ Montpellier, Unite Mixte Int Rech Translat Infect VIH & Malad, Montpellier, France. [Venca, Ana C. F.] Inst Higiene & Med Trop, Lisbon, Portugal. [Sampaio, Ana C.] Univ Tras os Montes & Alto Douro, CITAB, Quinta Prados, Vila Real, Portugal. [Criseoa, Giuseppe] Univ Messina, Dept Chem Biol Pharmaceut & Environm Sci, Messina, Italy. [Ranque, Stephane] Aix Marseille Univ, IHU Mediterranee Infect, AP HM, IRD,SSA,VITROME, Marseille, France. [Cerikcioglu, Nilgun] Marmara Univ, Sch Med, Istanbul, Turkey. [Marchese, Anna] Univ Genoa, IRCCS Policlin San Martino Genova, Sez Microbiol DISC, Genoa, Italy. [Vezzulli, Luigi] Univ Genoa, Dipartimento Sci Terra Ambiente & Vita DISTAV, Genoa, Italy. [Ilkit, Macit] Univ Cukurova Saricam, Adana, Turkey. [Pasquale, Vincenzo] Univ Napoli Parthenope, Naples, Italy. [Polacheck, Itzhack] Hadassah Hebrew Univ, Med Ctr, Jerusalem, Israel. [Lockhart, Shawn R.] Ctr Dis Control & Prevent, Atlanta, GA USA.

Congress of the European-Academy-of-Allergy-and-Clinical-Immunology (EAACI), Munich, GERMANY, MAY 26-30, 2018; International audience