Laboratory exposure to Coccidioides: lessons learnt in a non-endemic country

Coccidioides is a primary pathogenic fungus, which infects humans through highly infectious arthroconidia, causing substantial morbidity including life-threatening disseminated infections. Due to the low infectious dose, laboratory personnel might become infected during diagnostic procedures. Accord...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of hospital infection 2019-08, Vol.102 (4), p.461-464
Main Authors: Porte, L., Valdivieso, F., Wilmes, D., Gaete, P., Díaz, M.C., Thompson, L., Munita, J.M., Alliende, R., Varela, C., Rickerts, V., Weitzel, T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coccidioides posadasii
Coccidioidomycosis
Diagnosis
Laboratory exposure
MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry
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Summary:Coccidioides is a primary pathogenic fungus, which infects humans through highly infectious arthroconidia, causing substantial morbidity including life-threatening disseminated infections. Due to the low infectious dose, laboratory personnel might become infected during diagnostic procedures. Accordingly, coccidioidomycosis is reported as the most frequent laboratory-acquired systemic mycosis worldwide. This risk is aggravated in non-endemic countries, where the diagnosis may not be suspected. We report on an inadvertent exposure of 44 persons to Coccidioides posadasii in a clinical microbiology laboratory in Chile, the measures of containment after rapid diagnosis with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry, and the lessons learnt in a non-endemic setting.
ISSN:0195-6701
1532-2939
DOI:10.1016/j.jhin.2019.03.006