Molecular epidemiology of invasive stomatitis due to Aspergillus flavus in patients with acute leukemia.
BACKGROUND
Invasive oral aspergillosis is a rare complication and only little information on the epidemiology of Aspergillus flavus infection is available. We present here the molecular analysis of the epidemiology of invasive stomatitis due to Aspergillus flavus in patients with acute leukemia.


METHODS
During a 5-year period (1992-1996), six isolates of A. flavus were obtained from leukemic patients with invasive Aspergillus stomatitis. Random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) with three different PCR primers was carried out to investigate the DNA typing of the isolates.


RESULTS
The molecular analysis using RAPD revealed that three isolates of A. flavus obtained in 1992 from three patients were of the same type, whereas each of the isolates from the other three patients had a distinct unique band, resulting in four groups of A. flavus.


CONCLUSIONS
As the three patients with invasive oral aspergillosis detected in 1992 were infected by a single strain of A. flavus, the strain was suspected to have caused a nosocomial outbreak of invasive oral aspergillosis in the hematology unit.
Myoken
Yoshinari
Y
Department of Oral Surgery, Hiroshima Red Cross and Atomic Bomb Survivors Hospital, 1-9-6 Senda-machi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima, Japan. myoken@do5.enjoy.ne.jp
Sugata
Tatsumi
T
Fujita
Yoshinori
Y
Kyo
Tai-ichi
T
Fujihara
Megumu
M
Kohara
Tadahiro
T
Katsu
Masakazu
M
Mikami
Yuzuru
Y
D000208:Acute Disease; D001228:Aspergillosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics; D001231:Aspergillus flavus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D007938:Leukemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D012703:Serotyping; D013280:Stomatitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*
D004271:DNA, Fungal