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Infection Control: Opportunistic Fungal Infections—The Increasing Importance of Candida Species

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

Michael A. Pfaller*
Affiliation:
Veterans Administration Medical Center and the Department of Pathology, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa
*
273 MRC, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA 52242

Extract

Opportunistic fungal infections increasingly are becoming important causes of morbidity and mortality in the hospitalized patient. In addition to the well-known pathogenic fungi such as the Zygomycetes and Aspergillus spp, serious infections are being reported with increasing frequency due to Fusarium spp, dematiacious fungi and other usually “nonpathogenic” fungi. Recent data, however, suggest that Candida spp are emerging as one of the major nosocomial pathogens in both seriously ill immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients. Given the importance of Candida spp as opportunistic fungal pathogens, this summary will focus on newer clinical and epidemiologic observations of nosocomial candidiasis.

Type
Program Summaries
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1989

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