Association between incidence of Aspergillus antigenemia and exposure to construction works at a hospital site.
During the course of extensive building activity in the vicinity of bone marrow transplantation wards, the patients were routinely screened for the occurrence of Aspergillus galactomannan antigen in serum. In 19 (6.7%) out of 285 patients, an antigenemia was detected. Eleven (58%) of the 19 antigenemic patients suffered from autopsy-proven or clinically suspected invasive aspergillosis. The yearly incidence of antigenemic patients differed significantly, ranging from 0% in the year without building activities to 20.9% in the year with major activities, particularly interior completion works and landscaping. It is concluded that Aspergillus antigen monitoring of bone marrow transplant recipients has a limited value for the diagnosis of manifest invasive aspergillosis. However, it it epidemiologically useful to assess the extent of intensive contact with aspergilli and to control the effectivity of preventive measures.
Ansorg
R
R
Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie, Universität-GH Essen, Germany.
van den Boom
R
R
von Heinegg
E H
EH
Rath
P M
PM
D000946:Antigens, Fungal / Q000097:blood*; D001228:Aspergillosis / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005690:Galactose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008351:Mannans / Q000097:blood*
D000946:Antigens, Fungal; D008351:Mannans; C012990:galactomannan; D005690:Galactose