Pan-azole resistance in clinical isolates carrying TR34/L98H from birds and mammals in Belgium.

Aspergillosis causes significant health risks to both birds and mammals. The outcome of these infections is often poor due to delayed diagnosis and treatment failure. We investigated 152 cases of aspergillosis from birds and mammals in Belgium.

Resistance Profile, Terbinafine Resistance Screening and MALDI-TOF MS Identification of the Emerging Pathogen Trichophyton indotineae.

The emerging pathogen Trichophyton indotineae, often resistant to terbinafine (TRB), is known to cause severe dermatophytoses such as tinea corporis and tinea cruris. In order to achieve successful treatment for these infections, insight in the resistance profile of T. indotineae strains and rapid, reliable identification is necessary.

Pulmonary Aspergillosis in Humboldt Penguins-Susceptibility Patterns and Molecular Epidemiology of Clinical and Environmental Isolates from a Belgian Zoo, 2017-2022.

is the main causative agent of avian aspergillosis and results in significant health problems in birds, especially those living in captivity. The fungal contamination by in the environment of Humboldt penguins (), located in a Belgian zoo, was assessed through the analysis of air, water, sand and nest samples during four non-consecutive days in 2021-2022. From these samples, potential azole-resistant (ARAF) isolates were detected using a selective culture medium.

Evaluation of a Liquid Media MALDI-TOF MS Protocol for the Identification of Dermatophytes Isolated from Infections.

One of the most common types of tinea is the superficial infection of the hair and scalp area known as tinea capitis. It is responsible for frequent outbreaks in nurseries and schools and represents a global health problem. Correct identification of the infection agent is essential in the determination of the infection source, epidemiological course, and treatment initiation.

MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry Online Identification of Using the MSI-2 Application.

is an emerging pathogen which recently spread from India to Europe and that is more prone than other species of the complex to show resistance to terbinafine, resulting in the necessity of rapid identification. Here, we improved the online MSI-2 MALDI-TOF identification tool in order to identify . By multiplying the culture conditions (2 culture media and 6 stages of growth) prior to protein extractions for both test isolates and reference strains, we added 142 references corresponding to 12 strains inside the complex in the online MSI-2 database, of which 3 are strains.

Implementation of MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry to Identify Fungi From the Indoor Environment as an Added Value to the Classical Morphology-Based Identification Tool.

Introduction: During the last decades, molds in the indoor environment have raised concern regarding their potential adverse health effects. The genera , and yeasts, the most common fungi found indoors, include species with high allergenic and toxigenic potentials. Identification of these molds is generally performed by microscopy.

Investigations upon the Improvement of Dermatophyte Identification Using an Online Mass Spectrometry Application.

Online MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry applications, such as MSI-2, have been shown to help identify dermatophytes, but recurrent errors are still observed between phylogenetically close species. The objective of this study was to assess different approaches to reduce the occurrence of such errors by adding new reference spectra to the MSI-2 application. Nine libraries were set up, comprising an increasing number of spectra obtained from reference strains that were submitted to various culture durations on two distinct culture media: Sabouraud gentamicin chloramphenicol medium and IDFP Conidia medium.

The taxonomy of the complex: a phylogenomic approach.

The medically relevant species complex has a variety of phenotypic presentations but shows relatively little genetic differences. Conventional barcodes, such as the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region or the beta-tubulin gene, are not able to completely resolve the relationships between these closely related taxa. , and are currently accepted as separate species.

A Polyphasic Approach to Classification and Identification of Species within the Complex.

In recent years, considerable advances have been made in clearing up the phylogenetic relationships within the Arthrodermataceae family. However, certain closely related taxa still contain poorly resolved species boundaries. Here, we tried to elucidate the species composition of the species complex using a combined approach consisting of multi-gene phylogenetic analysis based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and beta-tubulin (BT) gene regions, morphological analysis, and spectral comparison using MALDI-ToF.

Identification of Molds with Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry: Performance of the Newly Developed MSI-2 Application in Comparison with the Bruker Filamentous Fungi Database and MSI-1.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) represents a promising tool for the rapid and efficient identification of molds, but improvements are still necessary to achieve satisfactory results when identifying cryptic species. Here, we aimed to validate a new web application, MSI-2, which replaces MSI-1, an application that was built and deployed online in 2017. For the evaluation, we gathered 633 challenging isolates obtained from daily hospital practice that were first identified with DNA-based methods, and we submitted their corresponding mass spectra to three identification programs (Bruker, MSI-1, and MSI-2).

Clinical Origin and Species Distribution of spp. Isolates Identified by Molecular Sequencing and Mass Spectrometry: A European Multicenter Hospital Prospective Study.

spp. are widespread environmental fungi as well as pathogens that can affect plants, animals and humans. Yet the epidemiology of human fusariosis is still cloudy due to the rapidly evolving taxonomy.

Intra- and inter-laboratory comparison of mDixon and FastFung broths for Malassezia antifungal susceptibility testing.

Background: Malassezia spp. antifungal susceptibility testing (AFST) capacities are limited by the lack of efficient and standardised AFST procedure, mainly because of the fastidious cultivation of these yeast.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the FastFung broth (FFB) to modified Dixon broth (mDIXB) for the in vitro AFST of Malassezia spp.

Superficial mycoses in Belgium: Burden, costs and antifungal drugs consumption.

Background: Monitoring of superficial mycoses requires more attention due to their important incidence, health costs and antifungal drugs consumption.

Objectives: The objectives were to estimate the burden of superficial mycoses in Belgium and to assess trends in associated antifungal consumption.

Methods: The burden of dermatophytoses (including onychomycosis), as well as skin and genital candidiasis, was estimated using disability-adjusted life years (DALY).

Exploiting the Advantages of Molecular Tools for the Monitoring of Fungal Indoor Air Contamination: First Detection of in Indoor Air of Air-Conditioned Offices.

Today, indoor air pollution is considered a public health issue. Among the impacting pollutants, indoor airborne fungi are increasingly highlighted. Most of the monitoring protocols are culture-based, but these are unable to detect the uncultivable and/or dead fraction or species suppressed by fast-growing fungi, even though this fraction could impact health.

Lineages Within the Trichophyton rubrum Complex.

The most important species of the Trichophyton rubrum group are T. rubrum, causing mainly skin and nail infections, and T. violaceum which is mostly scalp-associated.

Species Distinction in the Trichophyton rubrum Complex.

The species complex comprises commonly encountered dermatophytic fungi with a worldwide distribution. The members of the complex usually have distinct phenotypes in culture and cause different clinical symptoms, despite high genome similarity. In order to better delimit the species within the complex, molecular, phenotypic, and physiological characteristics were combined to reestablish a natural species concept.

Relationships between aeroallergen levels and hospital admissions for asthma in the Brussels-Capital Region: a daily time series analysis.

Background: Outdoor pollen grain and fungal spore concentrations have been associated with severe asthma exacerbations at the population level. The specific impact of each taxon and the concomitant effect of air pollution on these symptoms have, however, still to be better characterized. This study aimed to investigate the short-term associations between ambient concentrations of various aeroallergens and hospitalizations related to asthma in the Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium), an area recording especially high rates of admissions.

New insights in dermatophyte research.

Dermatophyte research has renewed interest because of changing human floras with changing socioeconomic conditions, and because of severe chronic infections in patients with congenital immune disorders. Main taxonomic traits at the generic level have changed considerably, and now fine-tuning at the species level with state-of-the-art technology has become urgent. Research on virulence factors focuses on secreted proteases now has support in genome data.

Comparative long-term trend analysis of daily weather conditions with daily pollen concentrations in Brussels, Belgium.

A clear rise in seasonal and annual temperatures, a gradual increase of total radiation, and a relative trend of change in seasonal precipitation have been observed for the last four decades in Brussels (Belgium). These local modifications may have a direct and indirect public health impact by altering the timing and intensity of allergenic pollen seasons. In this study, we assessed the statistical correlations (Spearman's test) between pollen concentration and meteorological conditions by using long-term daily datasets of 11 pollen types (8 trees and 3 herbaceous plants) and 10 meteorological parameters observed in Brussels between 1982 and 2015.

Discrimination of three genetically close Aspergillus species by using high resolution melting analysis applied to indoor air as case study.

Background: Indoor air pollution caused by fungal contamination is suspected to have a public health impact. Monitoring of the composition of the indoor airborne fungal contaminants is therefore important. To avoid problems linked to culture-dependent protocols, molecular methods are increasingly being proposed as an alternative.

Development and performance assessment of a luminex xMAP® direct hybridization assay for the detection and identification of indoor air fungal contamination.

Considered as a public health problem, indoor fungal contamination is generally monitored using classical protocols based on culturing. However, this culture dependency could influence the representativeness of the fungal population detected in an analyzed sample as this includes the dead and uncultivable fraction. Moreover, culture-based protocols are often time-consuming.

Toward a Novel Multilocus Phylogenetic Taxonomy for the Dermatophytes.

Type and reference strains of members of the onygenalean family Arthrodermataceae have been sequenced for rDNA ITS and partial LSU, the ribosomal 60S protein, and fragments of β-tubulin and translation elongation factor 3. The resulting phylogenetic trees showed a large degree of correspondence, and topologies matched those of earlier published phylogenies demonstrating that the phylogenetic representation of dermatophytes and dermatophyte-like fungi has reached an acceptable level of stability. All trees showed Trichophyton to be polyphyletic.

Short-Term Effect of Pollen and Spore Exposure on Allergy Morbidity in the Brussels-Capital Region.

Belgium is among the European countries that are the most affected by allergic rhinitis. Pollen grains and fungal spores represent important triggers of symptoms. However, few studies have investigated their real link with disease morbidity over several years.