First report of fatal fungemia due Fusarium oxysporum in a patient with COVID-19 in Ecuador.

Filamentous fungal infections are an important cause of systemic infections in immunocompromised patients. Fusarium genus members potentially cause disseminated infections, especially in patients with catheters, due to the ability to adhere to these devices. We describe a case of fatal fungemia due to Fusarium oxysporum in a patient with COVID-19 in Ecuador. The genus identification was carried out with conventional techniques and species identification by molecular and phylogenetic techniques through sequencing of the ITS region.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa epidemic high-risk clones and their association with multidrug-resistant.

OBJECTIVE: In Ecuador, data on molecular epidemiology, as well as circulating clones, are limited. Therefore, this study aims to know the population structure of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by identifying clones in clinical samples in Quito-Ecuador. METHODS: A significant set (45) clinical P. aeruginosa isolates were selected, including multidrug and non-multidrug resistant isolates, which were assigned to sequence types (STs) and compared with their antibiotic susceptibility profile. The genetic diversity was assessed by applying the multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme and the genetic relationships between different STs were corroborated by phylogenetic networks. RESULTS: The MLST analysis identified 24 different STs and the most prevalent STs were ST-3750 and ST-253. The majority of the multidrug-resistance (MDR) isolates were included in ST-3750 and ST-253, also 3 singleton STs were identified as MDR isolates. The 21 different STs were found in non-multidrug resistance (non-MDR) isolates, and only 3 STs were found in more the one isolate. CONCLUSIONS: The population structure of clinical P. aeruginosa present in these isolates indicates a significant association between MDR isolates and the clonal types: all ST-3750 and ST-253 isolates were MDR. ST-3750 is a closely related strain to the clonal complex ST111 (CC111). ST-253 and ST111 are a group of successful high-risk clones widely distributed worldwide. The multiresistant isolates studied are grouped in the most prevalent STs found, and the susceptible isolates correspond mainly with singleton STs. Therefore, these high-risk clones and their association with MDR phenotypes are contributing to the spread of MDR in Quito, Ecuador.