[Isolation of several species of the genus Aspergillus from soil of intrahospital ornamental plants].
The earth of ornamental plants is one of the main reservoirs of Aspergillus type of fungi in hospital areas. We studied 174 ornamental interior plants from a hospital at Santiago. Samples were obtained from the soil surface and sowed in Sabouraud-glucose agar, adding streptomycin and G-penicillin. After 72 h of culture, at least one strain of Aspergillus was isolated from 140 samples (80.5%). The most frequently isolated strain was A fumigatus (129 samples), followed by A niger (75 samples). A fumigatus and A niger were the only isolated strains in 65 and 11 samples respectively. These findings confirm that ornamental plants can be important reservoirs of Aspergillus strains, a potential infectious agent for immunocompromised patients, in hospital areas.
Thompson
L
L
Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile (Campus Norte), Santiago.
Castrillón
M A
MA
Delgado
M
M
García
M
M
D001230:Aspergillus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002677:Chile; D006761:Hospitals; D010944:Plants; D012988:Soil Microbiology
Aislamiento de diversas especies del género Aspergillus de la tierra de plantas ornamentales intrahospitalarias.