Indigenous case of disseminated histoplasmosis from the Penicillium marneffei endemic area of China.

This is the first indigenous case of disseminated histoplasmosis reported from the Penicillium marneffei endemic area in southern China. It was diagnosed by histopathology of tissue, gross and microscopic morphology of the culture and PCR assay of the isolated fungus. Successful antifungal treatment was with itraconazole 400 mg/day for 5 months.

Malassezia folliculitis in China.

Superficial Malassezia folliculitis was diagnosed in 1-1.5% of all dermatology patients seen in a Dermatology Out-Patient clinic in Urumqi City, Xinjiang province, west China. It was most prevalent in healthy, middle-aged males in the warm seasons.

The effects of temperature, pH, and salinity on the growth and dimorphism of Penicillium marneffei.

Penicillium marneffei is an important thermal dimorphic fungus that is endemic to Southeast Asia and China and causes penicilliosis, an AIDS-defining disease. Dimorphic switching is considered an important growth characteristic associated with its pathogenicity. In recent years, the molecular mechanisms underlying both dimorphic switching and monomorphic growth have been studied.

Identification of a novel gene, URE2, that functionally complements a urease-negative clinical strain of Cryptococcus neoformans.

A urease-negative serotype A strain of Cryptococcus neoformans (B-4587) was isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid of an immunocompetent patient with a central nervous system infection. The URE1 gene encoding urease failed to complement the mutant phenotype. Urease-positive clones of B-4587 obtained by complementing with a genomic library of strain H99 harboured an episomal plasmid containing DNA inserts with homology to the sudA gene of Aspergillus nidulans.

Outbreak of Trichophyton verrucosum in China transmitted from cows to humans.

Twenty percent of 1000 dairy cows were infected with Trichophyton verrucosum in a newly established dairy farm in western China. The disease was transmitted to 30 of 100 animal workers. The source of the outbreak is unknown but it is suspected that naïve cattle which were transported from Holland to China became infected after they arrived in Xinjiang province (West China) where the fungus is endemic in nature, prepuberty school children and various livestock.

Current topics of tinea capitis in China.

Tinea capitis is one type of superficial fungal infection which is found all over the world. The major etiologic agent of tinea capitis varies in different areas. Tinea capitis in China has unique characteristics.