Effectiveness of the National Quality Control Program in Mycology of Argentina and performance evaluation of participating laboratories.

The National Quality Control Program in Mycology (PNCCM) of Argentina was established in 1996 to improve the quality of the mycological diagnosis, to help establish and to set up standardized procedures and continuous training of laboratory staff. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the PNCCM in the 1996-2018 period. Data from the National Mycology Laboratory Network (NMLN) and PNCCM database was used to estimate the increase in the number of controlled laboratories and jurisdictions, the percentage of participation, the improvement in the quality of results and the adherence to the program.

Production of a latex agglutination reagent for the rapid diagnosis of cryptococcal meningitis.

Cryptococcosis is a fungal disease affecting more than one million people per year worldwide. Its main etiological agents are Cryptococcus neoformans species complex and Cryptococcus gattii species complex. Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is considered an AIDS-defining condition.

National production of certified reference fungal cultures.

Reference fungal cultures (RFCs) are essential for the internal quality control of laboratories. The production of these cultures requires standardized procedures (IRAM 14950:2016 and ISO 17034:2016 standards) carried out by a recognized and accredited laboratory. The aim of this work was to produce RFC in paper disks of autochthonous strains, characterized by two, homogeneous and stable reference methods traceable at species level.

[Endemic fungal pathogens in a rural setting of Argentina: seroepidemiological study in dogs].

Background: Three fungal species causing human disease, namely Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, Histoplasma capsulatum and Coccidioides sp., are endemic in different areas of Argentina. Rates of infection in domestic dogs have been used in other Latin American countries as indicators of the presence of these pathogens in a given area.

[Concordance between phenotypical features and PCR-REA for the identification of Malassezia spp].

The genus Malassezia has been recently revised and nowadays includes 11 species that cannot always be differentiated from each other by physiological and morphological tests. This study was aimed to evaluate the correlation between a molecular method and conventional phenotypic features in the identification of Malassezia spp. To achieve this aim, 92 Argentinean clinical strains isolated between 2001 and 2005 were analyzed along with three reference strains (Malassezia furfur CBS 7019, Malassezia sympodialis CBS 7222 and Malassezia slooffiae CBS 7956).