Vol.60 No.1 January 2012
Investigation on isolation of Trichosporon species in clinical practice
1)Department of Infection Control and Prevention, Aichi Medical University Hospital, 1-1 Yazakokarimata, Nagakute, Aichi, Japan
2)Department of Microbiology, Meiji Pharmaceutical University
Abstract
Trichosporon species are the environmental fungi found in soil and are important as the pathogens in opportunistic infections. They are also important as one of the causes for breakthrough infections due to inappropriate use of antifungal agents. We investigated the correlation between the consumption and the frequency of Trichosporon isolation. We retrospectively investigated the patients' background in 62 patients in whom Trichosporon was isolated during the period from 2003 through 2009 at Aichi Medical University Hospital. Statistic analysis was performed with Spearman's rank correlation coefficient test. We judged the difference to be significant when Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were >0.786 (p<0.05). Trichosporon species were the most frequently isolated from urine, followed by sputum and stool samples. Random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis using 8 primers showed possible nosocomial infections. The isolation number of Trichosporon species was associated with the total amount of micafungin (MCFG) usage and the ratio of MCFG usage with 0.811 (p=0.03) and 0.613 (p=0.14) of the rank correlation coefficients, respectively. The isolation of Trichosporon species was significantly correlated with the absolute amount (p<0.05) rather than the relative amount of MCFG. Since inappropriate use of antifungal agents could lead to the breakthrough of fungal infections, we should also consider the heterogenetic use of antifungal agents in each hospital.
Key word
Trichosporon, antifungal agent, prevalence
Received
January 11, 2011
Accepted
November 21, 2011
Jpn. J. Chemother. 60 (1): 18-24, 2012