Evaluation of blood culture media for the detection of fungi.

The aim of this study was to compare the utility of BACTEC™ Mycosis-IC/F (Mycosis), BACTEC™ Plus Aerobic/F (Aerobic), and BACTEC™ Plus Anaerobic/F (Anaerobic) media in the detection of fungi from simulated (obtained by the inoculation of tested media first with sterile sheep's blood and subsequently with one of 60 clinical yeast isolates) and clinical blood samples, taken during routine diagnostic examination in two hospitals. All tested strains grew on Mycosis as well as Aerobic bottles, and the time to detection obtained for Mycosis was significantly shorter (p < 0.05). The largest differences in the time to positivity was found for Candida glabrata and Cryptococcus neoformans, when Mycosis preceded Aerobic in 20-48 h (mean 35.5 h) and 0.7-64 h (mean 24 h), respectively. On the contrary, C. krusei were detected earlier in Aerobic media. In clinical samples, the detection of C. glabrata was also significantly faster in Mycosis than in Aerobic (29.22 ± 11.48 h compared to 86 ± 40 h). The media complement each other and, in 45% of clinical examination sets, a single positive medium was noted (25% in Mycosis and 19% in Aerobic). The study proved that both Aerobic and Mycosis media serve as the correct condition for the culture of fungi and that they varied significantly in the detection time of clinically important species. This result could suggest that the simultaneous use of Aerobic as well as Mycosis media may improve the time of diagnosis in many patients, especially those infected with C. glabrata or C. neoformans.

Trends in antifungal susceptibility of Candida species--one year observation.

In the past years opportunistic fungal infections have seriously increased, mainly in immunocompromised patients. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of yeast-like fungi in invasive candidiasis and to estimate its susceptibility to chosen antifungal agents. One hundred and sixty strains of yeast-like fungi were cultured from various clinical material: samples from lower respiratory tract, blood, the peritoneal cavity and others. The susceptibility tests were established according to the quantitative E-test method. The Candida genus represented the main etiological factor of invasive candidiasis. The predominant species were: C. glabrata (71/160), C. albicans (34/160), C. krusei (17/160), C. tropicalis (14/160). All tested strains were the most resistant to itraconazole. Candida glabrata presented the 100% susceptibility to amphotericin B and caspofungin and was the least susceptible to itraconazole, posaconazole and voriconazole. Candida albicans was the most susceptible species to all antymicotics.

Invasive Aspergillosis of the Stomach and Co-infection With Candida krusei in a Patient With Terminal Liver Failure: A Case Report.

Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is diagnosed almost exclusively in immunocompromised patients. It is located mainly in the lungs or paranasal sinuses, but occasionally other organs and the gastrointestinal tract may also be affected either alone or as a part of a disseminated disease. The main risk factors predisposing to IA are neutropenia, immunosuppressive and steroid therapy, as well as severe underlying disease. Despite progress in diagnostics and therapy of IA, it is still characterized by a high mortality rate. In the disseminated aspergillosis of the gastrointestinal tract, mainly the small or large intestine are affected, rarely the upper gastrointestinal tract. To our best knowledge only a very few cases of IA of the gastric wall have been reported so far in the literature. We describe a unique case of this very rare location of IA in the stomach in a patient who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation in the course of active IA and Candida krusei infection of the stomach wall. The patient's condition improved on combination therapy of voriconazole and caspofungin.