El misterio del muguet en la Francia de Luis Felipe de Orleáns (1830-1848) / The muguet's mystery in the France of Louis Philipe d'Orleans (1830-1848)

Resumen Durante el severo reinado de Luis Felipe de Orleáns (1830-1848) existió un breve intervalo de paz en Francia, permitiendo el desarrollo de las ciencias médicas, entre ellas la pediatría. El Dr. Vanier, viendo que los estudiantes de medicina tenían difícil acceso a los hospitales de niños, quiso ayudarles creando para ellos una revista con temas y casos pediátricos, entre éstos comunicaciones sobre el muguet, la candidiasis oral de los recién nacidos y también de lactantes mayores, por parte del célebre Trousseau, de Valleix y de los investigadores Gruby y Berg, quienes llegarían a descubrir que no se debía a la lactancia ni a las nodrizas, sino a un "parásito vegetal", un hongo similar a los champiñones.

Abstract Under the severe rule of Louis Philippe of Orleans (1830-1848) a brief interval of peace in France was favorable for the development of some medical arts, like pediatrics. The Dr. Vanier, considering how difficult was for the students the access to a children's hospital, wanted to help their learning with a journal with clinical cases and conferences on children pathology, including several papers on muguet (the oral infection by Candida albicans in newborns), written by the famous Trousseau and the clinical investigators Valleix, Gruby and Berg, who became to the description of the etiological agent as "a vegetal parasite, a fungus similar to the mush-rooms".

Nanosystems against candidiasis: a review of studies performed over the last two decades.

The crescent number of cases of candidiasis and the increase in the number of infections developed by non-albicans species and by multi-resistant strains has taken the attention of the scientific community, which has been searching for new therapeutic alternatives. Among the alternatives found the use of nanosystems for delivery of drugs already commercialized and new biomolecules have grown, in order to increase stability, solubility, optimize efficiency and reduce adverse effects. In view of the growing number of studies involving technological alternatives for the treatment of candidiasis, the present review came with the intention of gathering studies from the last two decades that used nanotechnology for the treatment of candidiasis, as well as analysing them critically and pointing out the future perspectives for their application with this purpose. Different studies were considered for the development of this review, addressing nanosystems such as metallic nanoparticles, mesoporous silica nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, liposomes, nanoemulsion, microemulsion, solid lipid nanoparticle, nanostructured lipid carrier, lipidic nanocapsules and liquid crystals; and different clinical presentations of candidiasis. As a general overview, nanotechnology has proven to be an important ally for the treatment against the diversity of candidiasis found in the clinic, whether in increasing the effectiveness of commercialized drugs and reducing their adverse effects, as well as allowing exploring more effectively properties therapeutics of new biomolecules.

Hospital-Associated Multicenter Outbreak of Emerging Fungus Candida auris, Colombia, 2016.

Candida auris is an emerging multidrug-resistant fungus that causes hospital-associated outbreaks of invasive infections with high death rates. During 2015-2016, health authorities in Colombia detected an outbreak of C. auris. We conducted an investigation to characterize the epidemiology, transmission mechanisms, and reservoirs of this organism. We investigated 4 hospitals with confirmed cases of C. auris candidemia in 3 cities in Colombia. We abstracted medical records and collected swabs from contemporaneously hospitalized patients to assess for skin colonization. We identified 40 cases; median patient age was 23 years (IQR 4 months-56 years). Twelve (30%) patients were <1 year of age, and 24 (60%) were male. The 30-day mortality was 43%. Cases clustered in time and location; axilla and groin were the most commonly colonized sites. Temporal and spatial clustering of cases and skin colonization suggest person-to-person transmission of C. auris. These cases highlight the importance of adherence to infection control recommendations.

Management of Patients with Candida auris Fungemia at Community Hospital, Brooklyn, New York, USA, 2016-20181.

Candida auris is an emerging fungus that can cause invasive infections. It is associated with high mortality rates and resistance to multiple classes of antifungal drugs and is difficult to identify with standard laboratory methods. We describe the management and outcomes of 9 patients with C. auris fungemia in Brooklyn, New York, USA.

Candida auris in Healthcare Facilities, New York, USA, 2013-2017.

Candida auris is an emerging yeast that causes healthcare-associated infections. It can be misidentified by laboratories and often is resistant to antifungal medications. We describe an outbreak of C. auris infections in healthcare facilities in New York City, New York, USA. The investigation included laboratory surveillance, record reviews, site visits, contact tracing with cultures, and environmental sampling. We identified 51 clinical case-patients and 61 screening case-patients. Epidemiologic links indicated a large, interconnected web of affected healthcare facilities throughout New York City. Of the 51 clinical case-patients, 23 (45%) died within 90 days and isolates were resistant to fluconazole for 50 (98%). Of screening cultures performed for 572 persons (1,136 total cultures), results were C. auris positive for 61 (11%) persons. Environmental cultures were positive for samples from 15 of 20 facilities. Colonization was frequently identified during contact investigations; environmental contamination was also common.

Candida auris Infection Leading to Nosocomial Transmission, Israel, 2017.

A patient transferred from South Africa to Israel acquired a Candida auris infection. Phylogenetic analysis showed resemblance of C. auris to isolates from South Africa but not Israel, suggesting travel-associated infection. C. auris infection occurred weeks later in another patient at the same hospital, suggesting prolonged environmental persistence.

Historia sucinta de Candida albicans, blanca pero no tanto / Brief history of Candida, white but not so much

From the begin of clinical microbiology in the second half of the nineteenth century, the fungi were neglected as contaminants without relevance for health, belonging the major advances of their study to the fields of milk derivatives and beer industries. However, the seek for the etiological agent of thrush, a very common oral pathology affecting the newborn, put the yeasts on the table near 1840 with three capital papers - Berg, Gruby and Bennett - speaking about spores from vegetable as parasites of animal and human beings. The door was open, and very soon, in 1853, came the decisive description by Robin of the Oidium albicans as the causative agent of this painful disease. Seventy years after, in 1923, Christine Marie Berkhout, rejecting this name, defined the genus as Candida, leaving the specie with the iterative Latin name of Candida albicans, that means "White-white". Or, perhaps, with a fine sense of humor, she has made an oxymoron, because "candida" means a brilliant white and "albicans" a matt one, both opposite adjectives. Or, may be, Christine is still saying us: "White…but not so white".

The first description of an oesophageal candidosis by Bernhard von Langenbeck in 1839.

In November 1839 the young university lecturer Bernhard (von) Langenbeck (1810-1887) published the first description of a fungus as aetiological agent of an oro-pharyngeal and oesophageal candidosis. We present his in English translated paper entitled 'Finding of fungi on the mucous membrane of the gullet of a typhoid fever corpse' (Germ.) in 'Neue Notizen aus dem Gebiete der Natur- und Heilkunde' (Froriep). There are interesting particulars in Langenbeck's description and discussion. The publication happened at the same time as that by Johann Lukas Schoenlein about fungi as the cause of the favus lesions. In this time Langenbeck lived at Göttingen. Later he went to Kiel and Berlin and became one of the most prominent surgeons of the 19th century. He sponsored the founding of the German Surgical Society, the Berlin Medical Society and the 'Archiv für Klinische Chirurgie'. In 1864 he was ennobled. Some of his assistants were Th. Billroth, R.U. Kroenlein, F. von Esmarch, and F. Trendelenburg.