Braz J Microbiol
September 2024
Cryptococcus neoformans is primarily responsible for cases of cryptococcal meningitis in individuals with HIV/AIDS. This study evaluated the susceptibility of C. neoformans obtained from individuals with cryptococcal meningitis associated with HIV/AIDS in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, against the action of the antifungals amphotericin B, flucytosine, fluconazole, itraconazole and posaconazole and analyzed it using Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) in order to identify the Sequence Types (STs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmazon River dolphins are an important flagship species in the Anavilhanas National Park, Brazil, where they interact with visitors. This study aimed to quantify and identify fungi isolated from dolphin skin and oral samples and their surrounding environment in this unique ecosystem. Samples were collected from three dolphins and water samples from Flutuante dos Botos and the Novo Airão city harbor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHistoplasmosis is commonly observed in AIDS patients as a neglected opportunistic disease that has an important relationship with environmental factors. The present study described the clinical characteristics of HIV/AIDS patients diagnosed with disseminated histoplasmosis in a tertiary healthcare facility in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, and evaluated the patients' homes and urban environmental samples as a source of exposure to Histoplasma capsulatum. A review of medical records from 2017 to 2019 of patients with HIV/AIDS associated with histoplasmosis was carried out, as well as the collection of environmental samples in the homes of these patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This study aimed at improving a real-time polymerase-chain-reaction (qPCR) assay for the detection of Histoplasma capsulatum, a fungal pathogen that can cause severe respiratory infections in humans, in clinical and soil samples.
Methods: Primer and probes were in-silico designed, in-silico and in-vitro evaluated including clinical biopsy materials and finally subjected to a real-world application with collected soil samples.
Results: Applying the qPCR assay with liver and lung biopsies from 71 patients each, including 59 patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as well as with Sabouraud (SAB) agar culture as the diagnostic reference standard, diagnostic accuracy of the qPCR assay of 100% (5/5) sensitivity and 96% (63/66) specificity for liver samples and 100% (4/4) sensitivity and 94% (63/67) specificity for the lung samples was recorded.
Trop Med Int Health
April 2022
Objectives: In the state of Amazonas, northern Brazil, cryptococcosis is endemic, with a predominance of Cryptococcus neoformans in individuals with HIV/AIDS, and Cryptococcus gattii VGII in non-HIV individuals. This study analysed the clinical isolates and clinical-epidemiological characteristics of HIV/AIDS patients diagnosed with cryptococcosis in a tertiary healthcare facility in Manaus, Amazonas and investigated the presence of agents of cryptococcosis in environmental samples.
Methods: A survey was made of data from HIV/AIDS patients diagnosed with cryptococcosis between January 2017 and December 2019, and environmental samples were collected at the patients' and their neighbours' homes.
Med Mycol
March 2022
Cryptococcosis is a life-threatening fungal infection caused by the Cryptococcus neoformans/Cryptococcus gattii species complex. Most cases are recorded in patients suffering from HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). However, this infection also occurs in non-HIV patients with a proportion of 10-30% of all cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Clin Microbiol Antimicrob
May 2020
Background: Cryptococcosis is a disease of wide geographic distribution. It is most critical when it affects immunocompromised patients, with AIDS, tuberculosis or other diseases that require prolonged hospitalization.
Methods: This study described a case report, molecular epidemiology, the phylogenetic relationship, along with antifungal susceptibility test of a new ST 623 of C.
Background: Cryptococcosis is a global invasive mycosis associated with significant morbidity and mortality. In the northern region of Brazil, this disease is caused by Cryptococcus neoformans genotype VNI and Cryptococcus gattii genotype VGII. However, few environmental studies have been conducted in this large tropical area.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMycoses
August 2016
Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii are the main causative agents of cryptococcosis, a systemic fungal disease that affects internal organs and skin, and which is acquired by inhalation of spores or encapsulated yeasts. It is currently known that the C. neoformans/C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAs there are four major molecular types of Cryptococcus neoformans (VNI, VNII, VNIII and VNIV) and four molecular types of Cryptococcus gattii (VGI, VGII, VGIII and VGIV), it is important to identify the specific groups causing cryptococcosis in different geographical regions. Here, we investigated the molecular types of 57 cryptococcal isolates from patients in a tertiary care hospital in the state of Amazonas, Brazil, between 2006 and 2010. The isolates were characterised by PCR fingerprinting using the M13 minisatellite and confirmed by URA5-RFLP analysis, and the presence of specific genes from the mating type locus (MATα and MATa) of these species was analysed by PCR.
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