Lung scedosporiosis: a differential diagnosis of aspergillosis.

Lung scedosporiosis is an opportunistic fungus in humans that rarely affects the lung. It may give clinical presentations that are similar to aspergillosis. However, it must be detected because of its frequent resistance to medical treatment. Two cases of pulmonary scedosporiosis that were surgically treated are reported herein.

Rapid and accurate identification of species belonging to the Candida parapsilosis complex by real-time PCR and melting curve analysis.

Candida parapsilosis is the second most frequent Candida species isolated from blood cultures. Since 2005, C. parapsilosis has been divided into three distinct species based on genetic traits: Candida parapsilosis, Candida metapsilosis and Candida orthopsilosis. The aim of this study was to develop a rapid real-time PCR assay able to distinguish these closely related species via a melting curve analysis. This identification method was optimized by using reference strains and well-characterized clinical isolates of Candida species. A single set of consensus primers was designed to amplify a 184 bp portion of the SADH gene in order to identify species based on the unique melt profile resulting from DNA sequence variations from each species of the complex. PCR products were detected with SYBR Green fluorescent dye and identification was established by melting curve analysis. For validation of the technique, a total of 116 clinical isolates, phenotypically identified as C. parapsilosis, were tested by real-time PCR and results were further compared with PCR-RFLP patterns of the SADH gene, used as the reference method. The melting curve analysis of amplified DNA could differentiate between C. parapsilosis (83.5 °C), C. metapsilosis (82.9 °C) and C. orthopsilosis (82.1 °C), with a sensitivity and specificity comparable to those of the reference method. One hundred and fourteen C. parapsilosis and two C. orthopsilosis isolates were identified among the clinical isolates. This method provides a simple, rapid and reliable identification of species belonging to the C. parapsilosis complex. This novel approach could be helpful for clinical and epidemiological investigations.

A fatal case with disseminated Myceliophthora thermophila infection in a lymphoma patient.

We report a lethal Myceliophthora thermophila infection in an immunocompromised patient. Based upon the clinical and mycological presentation, an initial diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis was made, possibly delaying optimal management in the patient. Melanized fungi are emerging pathogens that require early identification to improve their unfavorable prognosis.

Genotype of 88 Toxoplasma gondii isolates associated with toxoplasmosis in immunocompromised patients and correlation with clinical findings.

We report the genotyping analysis of Toxoplasma gondii isolates in samples collected from 88 immunocompromised patients, along with clinical and epidemiological data. Most of these samples were collected in France during the current decade by the Toxoplasma Biological Resource Center. Lack of specific anti-Toxoplasma treatment, pulmonary toxoplasmosis, and involvement of multiple organs were the 3 main risk factors associated with death for this patient group. Genotyping results with 6 microsatellite markers showed that type II isolates were predominant among patients who acquired toxoplasmic infection in Europe. Non-type II isolates included 13 different genotypes and were mainly collected from patients who acquired toxoplasmosis outside Europe. Type III was the second most common genotype recovered from patients, whereas type I was rare in our population. Three nonarchetypal genotypes were repeatedly recovered from different patients who acquired the infection in sub-Saharan Africa (genotypes Africa 1 and Africa 2) and in the French West Indies (genotype Caribbean 1). The distribution of genotypes (type II vs. non-type II) was not significantly different when patients were stratified by underlying cause of immunosuppression, site of infection, or outcome. We conclude that in immunocompromised patients, host factors are much more involved than parasite factors in patients' resistance or susceptibility to toxoplasmosis.