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International audience; Nosocomial Candida albicans infections are a significant problem in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). We investigated the clonality of C. albicans isolates recovered over an 8-year period from neonates at a NICU. We also validated multilocus sequence typing (MLST) compared with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) for the genotyping of C. albicans strains from the same NICU. A total of 43 clinical isolates (10 blood, 19 urine, and 14 other) were obtained from 43 neonates between 2005 and 2012. Clonal strains were defined as the isolation of two or more strains with identical or similar genotypes as determined with both MLST and PFGE. Using MLST, the 43 isolates yielded 25 diploid sequence types (DSTs) and 10 DSTs were shared by 28 isolates (65.1%). Among the 28 isolates sharing 10 DSTs, isolates from each of seven DSTs had the same or similar PFGE pattern. In addition, two sets of isolates that differed by MLST at only one locus had the same or similar PFGE pattern. Overall, when the MLST and PFGE results were combined, 22 isolates (51.2%) shared eight genotypes, suggesting clonal strains. Strains from each of seven genotypes (total, 19 isolates) were isolated among the 22 clonal strains within a 6-month period, whereas three strains of one genotype were obtained over a 3-year interval. Our findings suggest that horizontal transmission of C. albicans may occur more frequently than vertical transmission among NICU patients and that MLST appears to be a useful method for genotyping C. albicans strains isolated from NICU patients.

International audience; Poorly sporulating Aspergillus isolates from patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are generally identified in routine procedures as Aspergillus spp. In this study, we identified and characterized 11 isolates belonging to two unusual Aspergillus species of the section Fumigati (A. lentulus and Neosartorya pseudofischeri) recovered from four different patients. Aspergillus lentulus was found occasionally during a 10-year follow-up study of one CF patient colonized by A. fumigatus. Neosartorya pseudofischeri was isolated from three patients followed in different European hospitals. This species was recovered from two sputum samples of one patient, and from four successive samples of the two other patients, suggesting that it may be responsible for chronic colonization. Both species were isolated together with A. fumigatus. Isolates from both species did not grow at 50°C, and DNA sequence analysis, together with further morphological observations permitted identification at the species level. Growth at different temperatures and antifungal susceptibility were also investigated. All the isolates of N. pseudofischeri exhibited a very low susceptibility to voriconazole (VRZ) whereas a very low susceptibility to VRZ and amphotericin B was seen with the A. lentulus isolates.