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Malassezia infections with systemic involvement: Figures and facts
Author(s) -
Pedrosa Ana Filipa,
Lisboa Carmen,
Rodrigues Acácio Gonçalves
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1346-8138
pISSN - 0385-2407
DOI - 10.1111/1346-8138.14653
Subject(s) - malassezia , epidemiology , colonization , medicine , disease , intensive care medicine , immunology , dermatology , biology , microbiology and biotechnology
Abstract Malassezia are lipophilic and commensal yeasts capable of inducing skin disease among susceptible hosts. However, severely immunocompromised patients and preterm infants admitted to intensive care units are particularly at risk of developing Malassezia systemic infections. Patients often have central venous catheters which are usually the portal of entry for colonization and infection. In addition to the clinically non‐specific findings, a delay in the laboratorial diagnosis may occur as there is often the need to add lipid supplementation to culture in order to support these organisms’ growth. Herein, we report three unrelated cases of Malassezia bloodstream infection at a university hospital during a 2‐year period, followed by a discussion of the clinical results and comparison with the most recently available published data on epidemiology and risk factors, pathogenesis, diagnosis, susceptibility profile and treatment.