2013-06-19T18:57:11Z http://repub.eur.nl/oai

oai:repub.eur.nl/res/pub/9093 2012-11-14T12:24:05Z org:9830 org:9755 org:9821 org:9746 access:open type:article

urn:NBN:nl:ui:15-1765/9093 2012-11-14T12:24:05 mods http://hdl.handle.net/1765/9093 hdl:1765/9093 urn:NBN:nl:ui:15-1765/9093 Density and molecular epidemiology of Aspergillus in air and relationship to outbreaks of Aspergillus infection text article http://hdl.handle.net/1765/9093 http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/9093/10325319.pdf application/pdf Filesize: 136 KB born digital After five patients were diagnosed with nosocomial invasive aspergillosis caused by Aspergillus fumigatus and A. flavus, a 14-month surveillance program for pathogenic and nonpathogenic fungal conidia in the air within and outside the University Hospital in Rotterdam (The Netherlands) was begun. A. fumigatus isolates obtained from the Department of Hematology were studied for genetic relatedness by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. This was repeated with A. fumigatus isolates contaminating culture media in the microbiology laboratory. The density of the conidia of nonpathogenic fungi in the outside air showed a seasonal variation: higher densities were measured during the summer, while lower densities were determined during the fall and winter. Hardly any variation was found in the numbers of Aspergillus conidia. We found decreasing numbers of conidia when comparing air from outside the hospital to that inside the hospital and when comparing open areas within the hospital to the closed department of hematology. The increase in the number of patients with invasive aspergillosis could not be explained by an increase in the number of Aspergillus conidia in the outside air. The short-term presence of A. flavus can only be explained by the presence of a point source, which was probably patient related. Genotyping A. fumigatus isolates from the department of hematology showed that clonally related isolates were persistently present for more than 1 year. Clinical isolates of A. fumigatus obtained during the outbreak period were different from these persistent clones. A. fumigatus isolates contaminating culture media were all genotypically identical, indicating a causative point source. Knowledge of the epidemiology of Aspergillus species is necessary for the development of strategies to prevent invasive aspergillosis. RAPD fingerprinting of Aspergillus isolates can help to determine the cause of an outbreak of invasive aspergillosis. Leenders, A.C.A.P. Leenders Alexander aut Belkum, A.F. van Belkum, van Alex aut Behrendt, M.D. Behrendt Myra aut Luijendijk, A. Luijendijk Ad aut Verbrugh, H.A. Verbrugh Henri aut 073664952 068402856 Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam Supporting host sht en English Journal of Clinical Microbiology 0095-1137 1999-01-01 Humans Netherlands/epidemiology Time Factors Disease Outbreaks Epidemiology, Molecular Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique DNA Fingerprinting Seasons *Air Microbiology *Air Pollution, Indoor Aspergillosis/*epidemiology/microbiology/transmission Aspergillus fumigatus/classification/genetics/isolation & purification Aspergillus/classification/*genetics/isolation & purification Cross Infection/*epidemiology/microbiology/transmission Hospitals, University Erasmus University Rotterdam oai:repub.eur.nl/res/pub/9093 IR OAIPMH feed (http://repub.eur.nl/oai) 2007-03-13T13:09:44Z 2011-11-23T09:59:13Z http://purl.org/eprint/accessRights/OpenAccess