Morphotypic and genotypic characterization of sequential Candida parapsilosis isolates from an outbreak in a pediatric intensive care unit.
Candidemia outbreaks that due to cross-infection are an emerging problem in hospitals. Typing of microorganisms is an essential tool for understanding the epidemiologic aspects of the infection. Techniques based on phenotypic characteristics are inexpensive and easy to perform but are limited by their lack of reproducibility. This study assessed the value of several phenotypic and genotypic techniques that are used in epidemiologic investigations of Candida parapsilosis in clinical practice and used a combination of these methods to analyze outbreak of C. parapsilosis candidemia. Random amplification of polymorphic DNA polymerase chain reaction with several primers was unsatisfactory because it lacked discriminatory power. By simplifying the reading of the morphotypes, we increased their reproducibility for each malt agar and 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium media (97% and 90%) and thus their suitability for its use. The combination of electrophoretic karyotype and the simplified morphotypes was rapid and practical to characterize the different clusters involved in the intensive care unit outbreak.
García San Miguel
Lucía
L
Infectious Diseases Service, Ramón y Cajal Hospital, Madrid, Spain. lgarcias.hrc@salud.madrid.org
Pla
Jesús
J
Cobo
Javier
J
Navarro
Federico
F
Sánchez-Sousa
Aurora
A
Alvarez
Maria Elena
ME
Martos
Isabel
I
Moreno
Santiago
S
D001483:Base Sequence; D002175:Candida / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000032:analysis; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D016469:Fungemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016533:Mycological Typing Techniques; D010641:Phenotype; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D004271:DNA, Fungal