Publications by authors named "Vania A Vicente"

Chromoblastomycosis, an implantation mycosis, is a neglected tropical disease that causes decreased quality of life, stigma, and disability. The global burden of disease is unknown and data on disease epidemiology and outcomes are severely limited by a lack of access to needed diagnostic tools and therapeutics. The World Health Organization outlined targets for chromoblastomycosis in the Road Map for Neglected Tropical Diseases 2021-2030, but little progress has been made in initiating and implementing an effective control program globally.

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  • People with atopic dermatitis (AD) have more types of fungi (called mycobiota) on their skin compared to those without AD.
  • In a study with 80 AD patients and 50 healthy individuals, it was found that 47.5% of AD patients had certain yeasts, while none of the healthy ones did.
  • The study showed that older people were more likely to have these yeasts, especially in the neck area, but the severity of skin problems didn’t change the number of fungi found.
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  • Fungal primary pathogenicity is described as a strategic interaction where the host helps improve the fungus's fitness, while opportunistic strains merely survive by using host tissues in ways they are not specifically designed for.
  • There are two main types of primary pathogens: environmental pathogens that adapt to specific hosts through a double life cycle, and those that spread directly between hosts, risking epidemics through shifts to susceptible populations.
  • Some environmental fungi can transition from opportunistic to primary pathogens by leveraging similar survival traits across very different hosts, often linked to their ability to withstand extreme conditions.
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Purpose: Rare yeasts species are increasingly reported as causative agents of invasive human infection. Proper identification and antifungal therapy are essential to manage these infections. Candida blankii is one of these emerging pathogens and is known for its reduced susceptibility to multiple antifungals.

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Previously considered saprobe and non-pathogenic, the fungus Papiliotrema laurentii (formerly known as Cryptococcus laurentii), is rarely associated with human infection. Nevertheless, there has been an increase in reported infections by non-neoformans cryptococci. After a literature search on the Cochrane Library, LILACS, SciELO, MEDLINE, PubMed, and PMC (PubMed Central) databases, we conclude that this is the first case report of fungemia and probable meningitis caused by Papiliotrema laurentii in a previously immunocompetent host with associated COVID-19.

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Fungal skin infections are distributed worldwide and can be associated with economic and social traits. The immune response related to skin cells is complex and its understanding is essential to the comprehension of each cell's role and the discovery of treatment alternatives. The first studies of trained immunity (TI) described the ability of monocytes, macrophages and natural killer (NK) cells to develop a memory-like response.

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is an emerging fungal pathogen causing cat-transmitted sporotrichosis, an epi-zoonosis affecting humans, cats and dogs in Brazil and now spreading to neighboring South American countries. Here, we report the first two autochthonous cases of cat-transmitted sporotrichosis in Paraguay. The first case was a four-year-old male cat showing several ulcerative lesions, nasal deformity and respiratory symptoms.

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  • - The frequent renaming of medically significant fungi is complicating the work of clinical labs and healthcare providers, highlighting the need for better communication and resources in this area.
  • - Different factors drive name changes at the species and genus levels, prompting the authors to suggest maintaining larger genera and providing diagnostic markers for new classifications to help simplify identification.
  • - The authors call for an open-access online database to track these changes, recommending a committee to regularly review new names so that clinicians can access consistent and validated information about fungal species.
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Dermatophytosis is a superficial cutaneous infection, most commonly caused by fungal species such as Microsporum canis, Nannizzia gypsea (Microsporum gypseum), and Trichophyton mentagrophytes in dogs and cats. The zoonotic potential of these species is concerning, as companion animals are increasingly close to their owners. Therefore, the objectives of the study were to evaluate the current prevalence of Nannizzia-causing canine and feline dermatophytosis in Curitiba and Metropolitan Region, as well as perform phenotypic and phylogenetic characterizations of these isolates.

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Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum, Poaceae) is cultivated on a large scale in (sub)tropical regions such as Brazil and has considerable economic value for sugar and biofuel production. The plant is a rich substrate for endo- and epiphytic fungi. Black yeasts in the family Herpotrichiellaceae (Chaetothyriales) are colonizers of human-dominated habitats, particularly those rich in toxins and hydrocarbon pollutants, and may cause severe infections in susceptible human hosts.

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  • Zoonotic outbreaks of sporotrichosis in Brazil, particularly cat-transmitted sporotrichosis (CTS) from the fungus Sporothrix brasiliensis, are on the rise, with a significant increase in cases observed between 2011 and 2022 in Curitiba.
  • In a review of 216 cases, the incidence rose dramatically from 0.3 to 21.4 cases per 100,000 outpatient visits over the decade, with 58% of cases occurring from 2019 to 2021.
  • The most common form of sporotrichosis was lymphocutaneous, accounting for 63% of cases, highlighting the need for greater public awareness and preventive measures against transmission.
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The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the collapse of healthcare systems and led to the development and application of several approaches of wastewater-based epidemiology to monitor infected populations. The main objective of this study was to carry out a SARS-CoV-2 wastewater based surveillance in Curitiba, Southern Brazil Sewage samples were collected weekly for 20 months at the entrance of five treatment plants representing the entire city and quantified by qPCR using the N1 marker. The viral loads were correlated with epidemiological data.

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  • * This study involved sequencing and analyzing the whole genome of C. exuberans to identify genes related to its management of carbon and toxins, as well as its tolerance to heavy metals like lead and copper.
  • * Findings showed that C. exuberans could tolerate high levels of copper (up to 2500 ppm) and lead (up to 2500 ppm) while also effectively removing these metals from its environment, indicating its potential for use in cleaning up
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  • Sporotrichosis is an infection caused by the fungus Sporothrix, primarily affecting skin, subcutaneous tissues, and lymphatic vessels, with S. brasiliensis being especially virulent in Latin America.
  • A study analyzing 89 isolates from humans and cats in Southern Brazil found 81 S. brasiliensis and 7 S. schenckii, with no significant differences in antifungal susceptibility between the two host species.
  • Antifungal testing showed that the novel drug olorofim was highly effective against all tested isolates, while only one human isolate displayed resistance to itraconazole and posaconazole, with no specific genetic mutations linked to this resistance identified.
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Background: Onychomycosis (OM) is a common nail plate disorder caused by dermatophyte molds, yeasts, and non-dermatophyte molds, which use keratin in the nail plate as an energy source. OM is characterized by dyschromia, increased nail thickness, subungual hyperkeratosis, and onychodystrophy, and is typically treated with conventional antifungals despite frequent reports of toxicity, fungal resistance, and OM recurrence. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) with hypericin (Hyp) as a photosensitizer (PS) stands out as a promising therapeutic modality.

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Background: The skin is the first line of defence against communities of resident viruses, bacteria and fungi. The composition of the microbiome might change with factors related to the environment and host. The microbiome is dominated by bacteria.

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Introduction: Chromoblastomycosis is a disease caused by melanized fungi, primarily belonging to the genera Fonsecaea and Cladophialophora, mainly affecting individuals who are occupationally exposed to soil and plant products. This research aimed to determine the clinical, epidemiological and laboratory characteristics of chromoblastomycosis in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Materials And Methods: Patients diagnosed with chromoblastomycosis treated at the Júlio Müller University Hospital, Cuiabá, Brazil, from January 2015 to December 2020, whose isolates were preserved in the Research Laboratory of the Faculty of Medicine of the Federal University of Mato Grosso.

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Chromoblastomycosis and leprosy are chronic diseases with high prevalence in tropical and subtropical regions. Brazil is one of the countries with the highest incidence and prevalence for both diseases, however, reports of co-infections are scarce. The aim of this study was to describe three cases of chromoblastomycosis-leprosy co-infection in patients from Mato Grosso state, Brazil.

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Chromoblastomycosis (CBM) is a chronic cutaneous and subcutaneous mycosis caused by black, dimorphic, and filamentous fungi of the family, such as species of the genus . These fungi can switch between the saprophytic forms (conidia and hyphae) and the pathogenic form, the muriform cells (MCs), which is considered an essential mechanism for fungal virulence. Nearly all types of cells can produce membranous structures formed by a lipid bilayer that communicate extracellularly with other cells, known as "extracellular vesicles" (EVs), which may act as virulence factors, as observed for several species of pathogenic fungi.

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Fungal keratitis is caused by a wide spectrum of fungal genera, including molds and yeasts. We report a 42-year-old patient with mycotic keratitis after a direct trauma by a wood fragment. The fungal isolate was identified as by molecular methods.

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Purpose Of Review: Pediatric sporotrichosis has not been sufficiently studied; this review aims to evaluate the risk and prognostic factors related to the development of sporotrichosis associated to this age group. Also, we want to evaluate the causes of the increased number of cases of sporotrichosis in the pediatric population such as environmental changes in endemic areas, the biodiversity, and virulence among the pathogenic clade causing sporotrichosis in different areas of the globe, and especially the progression of the zoonotic transmission of infections caused by infections, associated to zoonotic transmission in Brazil and other endemic sporotrichosis countries.

Recent Findings: After evaluating a case series of 40 patients, we found that pediatric sporotrichosis in Mexico is mainly caused by which prevails in rural areas and is mainly sapronotically transmitted.

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Some members of Chaetothyriales, an order containing potential agents of opportunistic infections in humans, have a natural habitat in nests of tropical arboreal ants. In these black fungi, two types of ant symbiosis are known, i.e.

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Eucalyptus is the main species for the forestry industry in Brazil. Biotechnology and, more recently, gene editing offer significant opportunities for rapid improvements in Eucalyptus breeding programs. However, the recalcitrance of Eucalyptus species to in vitro culture is also a major limitation for commercial deployment of biotechnology techniques in Eucalyptus improvement.

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