Candida albicans Horizontal Transmission in COVID-19 Patients Hospitalized in Intensive Care Unit.

Candida albicans Horizontal Transmission in COVID-19 Patients Hospitalized in Intensive Care Unit.

Publication date: Dec 13, 2024

Invasive candidiasis is a predominant mycosis in hospitalized patients, and Candida albicans is the species most often responsible for this infection. Most candidiasis cases originate from endogenous mycobiota; therefore, Candida strains can easily be transferred among hospital patients and personnel. The aim of this study was to assess the possible horizontal transmission of C. albicans in patients with severe COVID-19 infection requiring hospitalization in the intensive care unit. In total, 59 C. albicans strains from 36 patients were collected from blood and lower-respiratory samples. The strains were genotyped using the RAPD method with the OPA-18 primer (5′-AGCTGACCGT-3′). Antifungal susceptibility testing was performed for amphotericin B (AMB), fluconazole (FCZ), voriconazole (VCZ), and anidulafungin (ANF) using the EUCAST method. C. albicans strains were separated into 13 different groups according to their RAPD pattern. Two predominant clonal clusters of 17 strains isolated from 12 patients and 12 strains from 7 patients were identified, followed by clusters with 6, 4, and 8 strains isolated from 5, 4, and 3 patients, respectively. C. albicans strains were sensitive to AMB, FCZ, VCZ, and ANF, and antifungal susceptibility profiles were similar in all genetic clusters. Our study indicates that C. albicans strains can spread horizontally. The routes of transmission for strains in the ward have not been explained due to there being insufficient data. The transmission could have been caused by the unintentional spread of pathogens by medical personnel.

Open Access PDF

Concepts Keywords
Easily Candida albicans
Fluconazole COVID-19 pandemic
Fungi genotyping
Hospitalization horizontal transmission
Rapd intensive care unit
molecular epidemiology
outbreak
SARS-CoV-2

Semantics

Type Source Name
disease MESH COVID-19
disease MESH Invasive candidiasis
disease MESH infection
disease MESH candidiasis
disease IDO blood
disease IDO susceptibility
drug DRUGBANK Amphotericin B
drug DRUGBANK Fluconazole
drug DRUGBANK Voriconazole
drug DRUGBANK Anidulafungin
drug DRUGBANK Coenzyme M
disease IDO pathogen
disease MESH clinical importance
disease MESH candidemia
disease MESH Critically ill
disease MESH Mycoses
disease MESH pulmonary aspergillosis
disease MESH mucormycosis
disease IDO host
pathway REACTOME Immune System
pathway KEGG Coronavirus disease
drug DRUGBANK Etoperidone
drug DRUGBANK Dimercaprol
drug DRUGBANK Dextrose unspecified form
drug DRUGBANK Gentamicin
drug DRUGBANK Chloramphenicol
drug DRUGBANK Albendazole
drug DRUGBANK Methyl isocyanate
disease MESH Aura
drug DRUGBANK Sodium bicarbonate
drug DRUGBANK Dimethyl sulfoxide
disease IDO drug susceptibility
disease MESH co infection
drug DRUGBANK Caspofungin
disease IDO assay
disease MESH Death
drug DRUGBANK Gamolenic acid
drug DRUGBANK Nonoxynol-9
disease MESH nosocomial infections
disease MESH systemic candidiasis
disease MESH fungemia
disease MESH causes
disease IDO country
disease IDO bacteria
disease MESH premature infants
drug DRUGBANK L-Leucine
disease MESH person to person transmission
disease IDO virulence
disease MESH Candida auris infection
disease MESH bloodstream infections
drug DRUGBANK Itraconazole

Original Article

(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)