Fusarium lateritium (NEES) as an agent of fungemia in a patient infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

Abstract

Emerging fungal pathogens are associated with significant morbidity and mortality in the immunocompromised host. The association of fungi from the Fusarium genus with human infection in uncommon. The objective of this paper is to report the first case of fungaemia caused by Fusarium lateritium in a 42-year-old HIV-infected patient. Members of the genus Fusarium are ubiquitous fungi uncommonly associated with human infection. However, they have been described as emerging fungal pathogens associated with significant morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised hosts (2,6).Human infection usually occurs as a result of inoculation of organism through the body surface, thus causing skin infection, onychomycosis, keratitis, fungaemia, endophtalmitis and arthritis. The disseminated form may occur in patients with severe immunodeficiency (2), although rarely found in HIVpositive or AIDS patients (4).Species of Fusarium cause spread illness, but the invasive form has recently emerged as the more common etiological agent after solid-organ transplantation (9,10). Considering the increasing number of cases of HIV and the susceptibility to opportunistic mycosis, the objective of this study is to relate the first case of fungaemia caused by Fusarium lateritium in a HIV-positive patient.The patient is a 42-year-old Brazilian male, living as a gardener in Recife Metropolitan Region -Pernambuco State, Brazil. Upon arrival to the Hospital Correia Picanço ambulatory, Recife, PE, Brazil, the patient was submitted to physical examination, and skin lesions, necrotic nodules, axillar furuncle, fever, erythematous papules and abscesses were observed. Laboratory tests revealed 434/mm3 CD4 blood cells counts and 4.670 copies/mm 3 of viral load. Venous blood samples were aseptically collected in three consecutive days, by venipuncture into VACUTAINER® tubes using EDTA anticoagulant. The samples were subcultured in biphasic Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) and incubated at 36.5°C for five days. The mycological diagnosis was carried out in the Medical Mycology Laboratory of Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil.Pure cultures were transferred to the surface of potato dextrose agar medium for taxonomic identification. The isolates were identified based on macroscopic and microscopic properties (1,8).Among the numerous colonies on potato dextrose agar maintained at room temperature, one attained a diameter of 2.5cm after four days. The fungus presented slow growth and sparse aerial mycelium. Macroconidia were long with parallel walls, and the apical cells had a distinct beak shape, while basal cells were foot-shaped. Microconidial shapes varied from oval to spindle and kidney-shaped. Branched and unbranched monophialides were observed, and chlamydospores appeared singly (Fig. 1). This fungus was subsequently identified as F. lateritium based on Booth and Nelson (1,8). The strain was deposited in the URM Culture Collection of the Department of

Taxonomy and Clinical Spectra of Fusarium Species: Where Do We Stand in 2014?

“…A strain of F. avenaceum caused an infection of the claw of a dog, finally leading to osteomyelitis [94]. Both F. lateritium and F. polyphialidicum were recorded causing keratitis [54,95], while F. lateritium also caused a disseminated infection in an HIV-patient [96].…”

Effect of Fungal Colonization of Wheat Grains with Fusarium spp. on Food Choice, Weight Gain and Mortality of Meal Beetle Larvae (Tenebrio molitor)

“…Mycotoxin exposure resulting from the ingestion of contaminated products poses a hazard to human and animal health [3] , [11] , [12] . Moreover, immunocompromized patients occasionally develop invasive fusariosis caused most often by F. solani , F. oxysporum, or F. verticillioides [13] , [14] and some mycotoxins were found to suppress humoral as well as cell-mediated immunity in mammals [11] , [12] .…”