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Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 10 1995, 462-478, Vol 8, No. 4
KC Hazen
The most common yeast species that act as agents of human disease are
Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Candida glabrata, Candida
parapsilosis, and Cryptococcus neoformans. The incidence of infections by
other yeasts has increased during the past decade. The most evident
emerging pathogens are Malassezia furfur, Trichosporon beigelii,
Rhodotorula species, Hansenula anomala, Candida lusitaniae, and Candida
krusei. Organisms once considered environmental contaminants or only
industrially important, such as Candida utilis and Candida lipolytica, have
now been implicated as agents of fungemia, onychomycosis, and systemic
disease. The unusual yeasts primarily infect immunocompromised patients,
newborns, and the elderly. The role of central venous catheter removal and
antifungal therapy in patient management is controversial. The antibiograms
of the unusual yeasts range from resistant to the most recent azoles and
amphotericin B to highly susceptible to all antifungal agents. Current
routine methods for yeast identification may be insufficient to identify
the unusual yeasts within 2 days after isolation. The recognition of
unusual yeasts as agents of sometimes life-threatening infection and their
unpredictable antifungal susceptibilities increase the burden on the
clinical mycology laboratory to pursue complete species identification and
MIC determinations. Given the current and evolving medical practices for
management of seriously ill patients, further evaluations of the clinically
important data about these yeasts are needed.
Copyright © 1995 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
New and emerging yeast pathogens
Department of Pathology, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville 22908, USA.
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