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Biological Analysis of Fungi and Associated Molds
Published in Christopher S. Cox, Christopher M. Wathes, Bioaerosols Handbook, 2020
Coccidioidomycosis is a highly infectious disease caused by inhalation of airborne arthrospores of the dimorphic fungus Coccidioides immitis. The disease is endemic in certain regions, principally in desert soils in North America, and reportedly affects man, monkeys, dogs, cattle, rodents and rarely, cats, horses, sheep and swine. It causes initial respiratory infection that occasionally progresses to the disseminated, highly fatal form. Evidence of infection by the airborne route has been demonstrated at an endemic site in Southern Arizona, where the disease was acquired by 5 out of 34 monkeys confined in open cages suspended above ground level for one year, although the fungus was not isolated on exposed plates of culture medium.94 Large-scale skin-test programs using extracts of the fungus have been used to assay geographic boundaries of the disease. These also revealed the extensive incidence of the mild, self-limiting form. IgG and IgM precipitating antibodies to coccidioidin develop after infection, and complement-fixing antibodies also arise. Clinical material should be inoculated onto cycloheximide-chloramphenicol agar that selectively isolates C. immitis from almost all other bacteria and saprophytic fungi. The dangers of inhaling airborne arthrospores of the mold form of the fungus can be eliminated by inoculating suspected clinical material into mice for subsequent histological examination.
The significance of emerging pathogens on water quality assessment
Published in Cara Gleeson, Nick Gray, The Coliform Index and Waterborne Disease, 1996
Traditionally, mycobacteria were regarded as environmental contaminants or as transient colonizers in humans. However, they are now recognized as being opportunistic pathogens of considerable significance. Table 6.6 lists the species of opportunistic mycobacteria that commonly cause disease in humans, including pulmonary disease and cervical lymphadenopathy as well as localized and soft tissue infections (Jenkins, 1991). Disease associated with these bacteria is steadily rising, particularly among patients with AIDS. Disseminated mycobacterial disease is now the third most common opportunistic terminal infection in patients with AIDS (Du Moulin and Stottmeier, 1986).
Biological Hazards
Published in W. David Yates, Safety Professional’s Reference and Study Guide, 2020
Histoplasmosis is a disease caused by the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum. Its symptoms vary greatly, but the disease primarily affects the lungs. Occasionally, other organs are affected. This form of the disease is called disseminated histoplasmosis, and it can be fatal if untreated. Occupations at greatest risk include environmental remediation workers, farmers, poultry workers, and veterinarians. H. capsulatum grows in soil and material contaminated with bat or bird droppings. Spores become airborne when contaminated soil is disturbed. Breathing the spores causes infection. The disease is not transmitted from an infected person to someone else.
Contamination of fresh vegetables in municipal stores with pathogenic Acanthamoeba genotypes; a public health concern
Published in International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 2023
Marziye Fatemi, Maryam Niyyati, Soheila Rouhani, Seyed Ahmad Karamati, Hamed Mirjalali, Panagiotis Karanis
We also postulate that contact with fresh produce can serve as an important source for exposure to Acanthamoeba and transfer of cysts to the eye and/or skin ulcers, leading to serious infections such as amoebic keratitis, disseminated acanthamoebiasis, and brain disease. However, the source of contamination of vegetables is often unknown. Most likely, the source of contamination could potentially be soil and irrigation water used in farming. Farmers and people handling vegetables should be aware of the risk of such exposures. The most common route of infection with Acanthamoeba for humans is contact lenses or the lower respiratory tract. However, more studies are needed to better understand the implications of the gastrointestinal tract via oral ingestion as a possible route of exposure to FLAs.
Trichoderma after crossing kingdoms: infections in human populations
Published in Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B, 2023
Uener Ribeiro dos Santos, Jane Lima dos Santos
The CFR based upon patient illness prior to infection and by diagnosed condition is summarized in Figure 4E. Organ transplants (n = 12), kidney disease (n = 15), and oncology patients (n = 16) exhibit high CFR: 58.3, 53.3, and 25, respectively. By diagnosis CFR were as follow: skin infection 25 (n = 4), peritonitis 53.3 (n = 15), invasive infections 38.5 (n = 13), pericarditis 100 (n = 1) and disseminated infection 100 (n = 5). The CFR depends upon the immune status of patients, the presence of previous diseases, speed of diagnosis, pharmacological treatments, and surgery requirements. Further, the host factors, such as neutropenia, pancytopenia and others associated factors, directly impact patient outcome in these infections. Univariate analysis demonstrates the contribution of factors to fatality rate (Figure 4F): being immunocompromised represents a significant risk factor for death from Trichoderma infections (n = 67) but no other factor contributed significantly, including gender (n = 69), surgery (n = 62), use of antifungal drugs (n = 66) or co-infection (n = 58).
Digital PET/CT with 18F-FACBC in early castration-resistant prostate cancer: our preliminary results
Published in Expert Review of Medical Devices, 2022
Luca Filippi, Oreste Bagni, Orazio Schillaci
Images were then classified according to an image-based TNM staging system (PROMISE). Originally developed for the reporting of PSMA-ligand PET/CT’s results and adapted by the authors for the reading of 18F-FACBC images, entailing the following regions for recurrence: prostate, prostate bed, and seminal vesicle remnants (Tr), pelvic lymph nodes (N1) (internal iliac, obturator, external iliac, perirectal, presacral, common iliac, and other), extrapelvic lymph nodes (M1a) (retroperitoneal, inguinal, chest, and other), bone (M1b), and visceral organs (M1c) [16]. Furthermore, PET/CT scans were divided according to the number of eventual metastastic lesions into: 1) unifocal; 2) oligometastatic (≤ 5 lesions); 3) disseminated disease (> 6 lesions) [17]. In case of positive lymph nodes, short axis (SA) of the largest node was measured (‘target node’) on the CT part of PET/CT study and annotated for each patient, assuming a SA < 10 mm as the threshold to consider a node to be nonpathological on CIM according to PCWG3 [2].