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This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of cryptococcal antigenemia detected by lateral flow assay (LFA) in AIDS patients and its accuracy in the diagnosis of cryptococcosis. Conducted at a university hospital in Brazil from March 2015 to July 2017, it included AIDS patients over 18 years old with a CD4+ count ≤ 200 cells/mm 3 . Cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) detection using LFA and latex agglutination (LA), along with blood and urine cultures, were performed. The reference standard was the identification of Cryptococcus spp. in clinical specimens through microbiological or histopathological examination. Among 230 patients, the prevalence of CrAg detected by LFA (CrAg LFA) was 13.0%. Factors associated with cryptococcal antigenemia included fever, vomiting, seizures, and a lack of antiretroviral therapy. The sensitivity and specificity of CrAg LFA were 83.9% and 98.0%, respectively. The positive predictive value (PPV) was 86.7%, the negative predictive value (NPV) was 97.5%, and overall accuracy was 96.1%. Cross-reactions were observed in patients with histoplasmosis and paracoccidioidmycosis, but not with aspergillosis or positive rheumatoid factor. The study concludes that the LFA is a useful tool for detecting cryptococcal antigenemia in severely immunocompromised AIDS patients due to its high NPV, specificity, and PPV.

The incidence of candidemia by the Candida parapsilosis complex has increased considerably in recent decades, frequently related to use of indwelling intravascular catheters. The ability of this pathogen to colonize healthcare workers (HCW)' hands, and to form biofilm on medical devices has been associated with the occurrence of nosocomial outbreaks and high mortality rates. Fluconazole has been the leading antifungal drug for the treatment of invasive candidiasis in developing countries. However, azole-resistant C. parapsilosis isolates are emerging worldwide, including in Brazil. Few studies have correlated outbreak infections due to C. parapsilosis with virulence factors, such as biofilm production. We thus conducted a microbiological investigation of C. parapsilosis complex isolates from a Brazilian teaching hospital. Additionally, we identified a previously unrecognized outbreak caused by a persistent azole-resistant C. parapsilosis ( sensu stricto ) clone in the intensive care unit (ICU), correlating it with the main clinical data from the patients with invasive candidiasis. The molecular identification of the isolates was carried out by PCR-RFLP assay; antifungal susceptibility and biofilm formation were also evaluated. The genotyping of all C. parapsilosis ( sensu stricto ) was performed by microsatellite analysis and the presence of ERG11 mutations was assessed in the azole non-susceptible isolates. Fourteen C. parapsilosis ( sensu stricto ) isolates were recovered from patients with invasive candidiasis, eight being fluconazole and voriconazole-resistant, and two intermediate only to fluconazole (FLC). All non-susceptible isolates showed a similar pattern of biofilm formation with low biomass and metabolic activity. The A395T mutation in ERG11 was detected exclusively among the azole-resistant isolates. According to the microsatellite analysis, all azole non-susceptible isolates from the adult ICU were clustered together indicating the occurrence of an outbreak. Regarding clinical data, all patients infected by the clonal non-susceptible isolates and none of the patients infected by the susceptible isolates had been previously exposed to corticosteroids (p = 0.001), while the remaining characteristics showed no statistical significance. The current study revealed the persistence of an azole non-susceptible C. parapsilosis clone with low capacity to form biofilm over two years in the adult ICU. These results reinforce the need of epidemiological surveillance and monitoring antifungal susceptibility of C. parapsilosis isolates in hospital wards.

Introduction: This study aimed to describe cryptococcal meningitis (CM) cases and the associated demographic, clinical, and microbiological data obtained from cities in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul in the Midwestern region of Brazil., Methods: The data from 129 patients with laboratory-confirmed CM admitted from 1997 to 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. The molecular types of Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii isolated from cerebrospinal fluid were analyzed to determine their geographic distribution., Results: The patients had a mean age of 37 years and consisted mostly of men (76.7%). Most of the Cryptococcus isolates were obtained from patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and included 105 (87.5%) and 5 (55.6%) isolates of C. neoformans and C. gattii complexes, respectively. A restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of URA5 revealed that most of the isolates were C. neoformans molecular type VNI (89.1%), whereas the molecular types VGII (7%) and VNII (3.9%) were observed less frequently. Notably, 65% of the cases with a time from symptom onset to laboratory diagnosis of more than 60 days resulted in fatalities, and sequelae were observed among the patients who survived., Conclusions: The present study documents the occurrence of neurocryptococcosis, which is mainly caused by C. neoformans VNI, in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, with probable autochthonous cases in the Brazilian Pantanal, the world's largest tropical wetland, and a biome where cryptococcosis has not yet been explored.

Introduction: Disseminated histoplasmosis (DH) is a systemic mycosis caused by Histoplasma capsulatum (H. capsulatum) and is characterized by progressive and fatal evolution in immunocompromised patients. Moreover, it is considered an AIDS-defining disease., Methods: We performed an observational, analytical, retrospective study to identify the clinical outcomes and risk factors for death from DH in patients with AIDS at an infectious diseases service facility in Brazil between September 2011 and July 2016. Patients with a positive serology for HIV and DH were diagnosed via direct examination and/or positive cultures for H. capsulatum., Results: Twenty-three patients were included in this study. Approximately, 82.6% were men, with a mean age of 41.0±11.5 years, and 52.2% had a concomitant diagnosis of AIDS and DH. The median CD4+ T cell count was 19 cells/mm3, and 56.5% of the patients died. The most frequently observed symptoms were fever, dyspnea, and skin lesions. On the basis of a comparative analysis of those who died and survived, the absence of splenomegaly and hepatomegaly and the presence of H. capsulatum in the peripheral blood were considered as risk factors for death. Those who died had a higher leukocyte count; CRP, urea, and lactate dehydrogenase levels; AST index; and international normalized ratio prothrombin time. The serum total protein and albumin levels of the patients were lower., Conclusions: The mortality rate for DH is high among severely immunocompromised patients with AIDS. The risk factors for death were those traditionally associated with blood dyscrasia, inflammatory activity, as well as increased renal and nutritional impairment.

The aim of this study was to identify Candida spp. isolated from candiduria episodes at a tertiary hospital in the Midwest region of Brazil, and to determine their susceptibility profiles to antifungal compounds. From May 2011 to April 2012, Candida spp. isolated from 106 adult patients with candiduria admitted to the University Hospital of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul were evaluated. Both, species identification and susceptibility testing with fluconazole-FLC, voriconazole-VRC, and amphotericin B-AmB were carried out using the Vitek 2. To discriminate species of the C. parapsilosis complex, a RAPD-PCR technique using the RPO2 primer was performed. From the total of 106 isolates, 42 (39.6%) C. albicans and 64 (60.4%) Candida non-albicans (CNA) - 33 C. tropicalis, 18 C. glabrata, 5 C. krusei, 4 C. parapsilosis sensu stricto, 2 C. kefyr, 1 C. lusitaniae, and 1 C. guilliermondii were identified. All isolates were susceptible to AmB and VRC, whereas all C. glabrata isolates presented either resistance (5.6%) or dose-dependent susceptibility (94.4%) to FLC. The study of Candida spp. and their resistance profiles may help in tailoring more efficient therapeutic strategies for candiduria.