BACKGROUND Aspergillus colonisation is frequently reported after lung transplantation. The question of whether aspergillus colonisation is related to the hospital environment is crucial to prevention. METHOD To elucidate this question, a prospective study of aspergillus colonisation after lung transplantation, along with a mycological survey of the patient environment, was performed. RESULT...

1. Allo MD, Miller J, Townsend T, Tan C. Primary cutaneous aspergillosis associated with Hickman intravenous catheters. N Engl J Med 1987;317: 1105–8. 2. Walmsley S, Devi S, King S, Schneider R, Richardson S, Ford-Jones L. Invasive Aspergillus infections in a pediatric hospital: a ten-year review. Pediatr Infect Dis J 1993;12:673–82. 3. Segal BH, DeCarlo ES, Kwon-Chung KJ, Malech HL, Gallin JI,...

Although the diagnostic significance of isolating Aspergillus spp. from respiratory cultures has been studied in immunocompromised hosts with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA), little is known of such infections in immunocompetent patients with other forms of aspergillosis. In this study of adult pneumology ward patients, we examined the association between Aspergillus spp. and disease pre...

The fungi isolated from 100 samples of flue-cured tobacco from 12 markets in 2 tobacco belts comprised 11 genera, including 10 species of Aspergillus. The mean percentage per sample isolated from 62 samples of tobacco from Middle Belt markets was Alternaria, 40.6%; Aspergillus niger, 47.8%; Aspergillus repens, 38.0%; and Penicillium, 25.8%. The mean percentage per sample isolated from 38 sample...

Eleven fungal strains (4 Penicillium commune, 2 Aspergillus niger, 2 Aspergillus rugulosa, Aspergillus terricola, Aspergillus ornatus and Aspergillus fumigatus) were isolated, characterized morphologically and by their capacity to degrade tannins. Aspergillus niger Aa-20 was used as control strain. Several concentrations of hydrolysable tannin (tannic acid) were used as sole carbon source. All ...

The in vitro antifungal activity of albendazole, a benzimidazole widely used as an antihelmintic drug in humans, was investigated and assessed for its activity against Aspergillus spp. Forty-eight isolates, representing the most frequent species found in human pathology [Aspergillus fumigatus (n = 27), Aspergillus flavus (n = 10), Aspergillus terreus (n = 7), Aspergillus nidulans (n = 3) and As...

The susceptibilities of 40 clinical isolates of Aspergillus spp. (Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus) were determined for posaconazole and voriconazole by the CLSI M38-A and EUCAST-AFST broth dilution methods. Where a discrepancy was observed between the methods, the EUCAST method tended to give higher MIC values. Overall, the level of agreement wa...

We developed a PCR-based assay to differentiate medically important species of Aspergillus from one another and from other opportunistic molds and yeasts by employing universal, fungus-specific primers and DNA probes in an enzyme immunoassay format (PCR-EIA). Oligonucleotide probes, directed to the internal transcribed spacer 2 region of ribosomal DNA from Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumiga...

BACKGROUND Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA), which is predominantly a disease of asthmatic subjects, is caused by hypersensitivity to Aspergillus antigens. Screening for Aspergillus sensitization in asthmatic subjects could identify those who are at risk for ABPA. Few studies have shown that fungal sensitization could be an important risk factor for asthma severity. We sought to d...

The susceptibilities of 63 isolates of Aspergillus spp. to voriconazole were evaluated by a modified NCCLS M38-A method and the Sensititre YeastOne method. The overall agreement was 82.5%, ranging from 100% for Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus terreus to 62.5% for Aspergillus flavus. Discrepancies between the methods were due to higher Sensititre MICs. The Sensititre YeastOne method could have...