NoteOutbreak of fungemia caused by Candida parapsilosis in a neonatal intensive care unit: Molecular investigation through microsatellite analysisBrote de fungemia por Candida parapsilosis en una unidad de cuidados intensivos neonetal: genotipificación molecular basada en el estudio de microsatélites
Section snippets
Patients
A total of 11 cases of fungemia by C. parapsilosis (from 11 patients) were identified during a period of 43 days in the NICU at the “Hospital das Clínicas”, Faculty of Medicine of Botucatu, a tertiary hospital with about 467 beds, located in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. The neonatal patients with ages ranging from 7 to 60 days, with 8 males and 3 females, were considered for the study. To check for a possible outbreak in this unit, molecular investigations were initiated. Ethical clearance
Results
As noted in Table 1, with the exception of two samples, all the others showed the same microsatellite genotype. The genotypic profile for the nine isolates was 109–109 bp and 132–132 bp, for the primers used in the study. These results suggest that the isolates from the nine patients were derived from the same strain.
Discussion
Multiple risk factors for acquisition of fungemia by C. parapsilosis in neonatal intensive care units have been identified. These include prematurity, low birth weight, prolonged hospitalization, use of central venous catheters, hyperalimentation, the use of intralipid, parenteral nutrition and the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, particularly third-generation cephalosporins.16
In our study we demonstrated with the help of molecular biology the presence of an outbreak of C. parapsilosis in the
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
The authors express their thanks to PhD Marina Korte for her revision of the English text, and to São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for their financial support.
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