Common Reservoirs for Penicillium marneffei Infection in Humans and Rodents, China

Human penicilliosis marneffei is an emerging infectious disease caused by the fungus Penicillium marneffei. High prevalence of infection among bamboo rats of the genera Rhizomys and Cannomys suggest that these rodents are a key facet of the P. marneffei life cycle. We trapped bamboo rats during June 2004–July 2005 across Guangxi Province, China, and demonstrated 100% prevalence of infection. Multilocus genotypes show that P. marneffei isolates from humans are similar to those infecting rats and are in some cases identical. Comparison of our dataset with genotypes recovered from sites across Southeast Asia shows that the overriding component of genetic structure in P. marneffei is spatial, with humans containing a greater diversity of genotypes than rodents. Humans and bamboo rats are sampling an as-yet undiscovered common reservoir of infection, or bamboo rats are a vector for human infections by acting as amplifiers of infectious dispersal stages

Chronic Mycobacterium avium skin and soft tissue infection complicated with scalp osteomyelitis possibly secondary to anti-interferon-γ autoantibody formation

Abstract Background Nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) disease is commonly an opportunistic infection frequently found in immunocompromised individuals, but sometimes can also be found in the immunocompetent hosts, especially in East Asians. The NTM separation rate in China is increasing, which reminds us to focus on NTM infections in immunocompromised populations. Case presentation A 43-year-old woman with a recurrent fever for more than 8-month and a right forehead surgical wounds unhealed for more than 6-month was admitted to our hospital on February 22, 2018. On arrival, several elliptic ulcers were obvious on the right forehead with pus and fibrin exudation, and the skin around the lesions was tender, reddish, no sense of fluctuation. The result of HIV serology test was negative. CD4+ T cell count was normal and tuberculosis antibody was negative. CT of the chest and head showed bone destruction. Skin biopsy on the right forehead was performed on March 13, 2018, and pathological examination of the excisional biopsy specimen found inflammatory granuloma and suppurative inflammatory changes. Broad-spectrum antibiotics were treated but the effect seemed discontent. Then debridement and skin grafting were performed on the right frontal ulcer under general anesthesia on April 3, 2018. The skin tissue culture that resected on March 13, 2018 found Nontuberculous mycobacteria grown after 78 days, so clarithromycin, ethambutol, protionamide, and amoxicillin clavulanate potassium were prescribed for anti-nontuberculous mycobacteria treatment beginning on May 31, 2018. In reviewing the case, Mycobacterium avium (M. avium) was identified in the skin tissue resected on April 3, 2018 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the serum test of anti-interferon-γ autoantibodies was positive. Conclusions This is a case report of “Mycobacterium avium SSTI (skin and soft tissue infection) and OM (osteomyelitis) with possible secondary immunodeficiency syndrome induced by anti-interferon-γ autoantibody”

Eighty Years of Mycopathologia: A Retrospective Analysis of Progress Made in Understanding Human and Animal Fungal Pathogens

Mycopathologia was founded in 1938 to ‘diffuse the understanding of fungal diseases in man and animals among mycologists.’ This was an important mission considering that pathogenic fungi for humans and animals represent a tiny minority of the estimated 1.5–5 million fungal inhabitants on Earth. These pathogens have diverged from the usual saprotrophic lifestyles of most fungi to colonize and infect humans and animals. Medical and veterinary mycology is the subdiscipline of microbiology that dwells into the mysteries of parasitic, fungal lifestyles. Among the oldest continuing scientific publications on the subject, Mycopathologia had its share of ‘classic papers’ since the first issue was published in 1938. An analysis of the eight decades of notable contributions reveals many facets of host–pathogen interactions among 183 volumes comprising about 6885 articles. We have analyzed the impact and relevance of this body of work using a combination of citation tools (Google Scholar and Scopus) since no single citation metric gives an inclusive perspective. Among the highly cited Mycopathologia publications, those on experimental mycology accounted for the major part of the articles (36%), followed by diagnostic mycology (16%), ecology and epidemiology (15%), clinical mycology (14%), taxonomy and classification (10%), and veterinary mycology (9%). The first classic publication, collecting nearly 200 citations, appeared in 1957, while two articles published in 2010 received nearly 150 citations each, which is notable for a journal covering a highly specialized field of study. An empirical analysis of the publication trends suggests continuing interests in novel diagnostics, fungal pathogenesis, review of clinical diseases especially with relevance to the laboratory scientists, taxonomy and classification of fungal pathogens, fungal infections and carriage in pets and wildlife, and changing ecology and epidemiology of fungal diseases around the globe. We anticipate that emerging and re-emerging fungal pathogens will continue to cause significant health burden in the coming decades. It remains vital that scientists and physicians continue to collaborate by learning each other’s language for the study of fungal diseases, and Mycopathologia will strive to be their partner in this increasingly important endeavor to its 100th anniversary in 2038 and beyond