Jpn. J. Infect. Dis., 57, 248-252, 2004

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Original Article

An Outbreak of Dipodascus capitatus Infection in the ICU: Three Case Reports and Review of the Literature

Gulden Ersoz*, Feza Otag1, Zayre Erturan2, Gonul Aslan1, Ali Kaya, Gurol Emekdas1 and Takashi Sugita3

Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease and
1Department of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology, Mersin University School of Medicine, Mersin, 2Department of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology, Istanbul Medicine Faculty, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey and 3Department of Microbiology, Meiji Pharmaceutical University, Tokyo 204-8589, Japan

(Received May 5, 2004. Accepted June 21, 2004)


*Corresponding author: Mailing address: Mersin Universitesi Tip Fakultesi, Mikrobiyoloji ve Klinik Mikrobiyoloji Anabilim Dali, 33079, Zeytinlibahce Cad, Mersin, Turkey. Tel & Fax: +90 324 337 43 28, E-mail: gersoz@mersin.edu.tr


SUMMARY: A mini epidemic of Dipodascus capitatus (teleomorph of Geotrichum capitatum) involving three cases is reported. The index case was pulmonary infection and a fulminant course of fungal infection, which resulted in the patient's death with acute myelocytic leukemia. In the other cases, the patients were simultaneously hospitalized, the first in the intensive care unit. In all cases, D. capitatus was identified in different samples (sputum, deep tracheal aspiration, blood, and urine) from each of the patients. Ggrowing evidence indicates that D. capitatus should be added to the lengthening list of opportunistic fungal pathogens that can cause infection in people of all ages and particularly in those who are immunocompromised. Further, the danger of cross-contamination and potential "outbreak" should be kept in mind during hospital management.


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