Browsing by Author "Barac, Aleksandra"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis treatment duration in haematology patients in Europe: An EFISG, IDWP‐EBMT, EORTC‐IDG and SEIFEM surveyPublication . Lanternier, Fanny; Seidel, Danila; Pagano, Livio; Styczynski, Jan; Mikulska, Malgorzata; Pulcini, Celine; Maertens, Johan; Munoz, Patricia; Garcia‐Vidal, Carol; Rijnders, Bart; Arendrup, Maiken Cavling; Sabino, Raquel; Verissimo, Cristina; Gaustad, Peter; Klimko, Nikolay; Arikan‐Akdagli, Sevtap; Arsic, Valentina; Barac, Aleksandra; Skiada, Anna; Klingspor, Lena; Herbrecht, Raoul; Donnelly, Peter; Cornely, Oliver A.; Lass‐Flörl, Cornelia; Lortholary, OlivierInvasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) optimal duration of antifungal treatment is not known. In a joint effort, four international scientific societies/groups performed a survey to capture current practices in European haematology centres regarding management of IPA. We conducted a cross-sectional internet-based questionnaire survey in 2017 to assess practices in sixteen European countries concerning IPA management in haematology patients including tools to evaluate treatment response, duration and discontinuation. The following four groups/societies were involved in the project: European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Fungal Infection Study Group (EFISG), Infectious Diseases Working Party-European Society for Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation (IDWP-EBMT), European Organisation for Research and Treatment-Infectious Disease group (EORTC-IDG) and Sorveglianza Epidemiologica Infezioni nelle Emopatie (SEIFEM). A total of 112 physicians from 14/16 countries answered the survey. Galactomannan antigen was available in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage in most centres (106/112 [95%] and 97/112 [87%], respectively), quantitative Aspergillus PCR in 27/112 (24%) centres, β-D-glucan in 24/112 (21%) and positron emission tomography in 50/112 (45%). Treatment duration differed between haematological malignancies, with a median duration of 6 weeks [IQR 3-12] for patients with AML, 11 [4-12] for patients with allogenic stem cell transplantation and GvHD and 6 [3-12] for patients with lymphoproliferative disease. Treatment duration significantly differed according to country. Essential IPA biomarkers are not available in all European countries, and treatment duration is highly variable according to country. It will be important to provide guidelines to help with IPA treatment cessation with algorithms according to biomarker availability.
- Knowledge and regulation on fungal contamination of sand and water: progress report and perspectivesPublication . Gangneux, Jean-Pierre; Brandão, João; Segal, Ester; Arikan-Akdagli, Sevtap; Barac, Aleksandra; Bertout, Sébastien; Bostanaru, Andra-Cristina; Brito, Sara; Bull, Michelle; Çerikçioğlu, Nilgün; Chapman, Belinda; Delhaes, Laurence; Efstratiou, Maria; Ergin, Çagri; Frenkel, Michael; Guerra, Alexis Danielle; Gitto, Aurora; Gonçalves, Cláudia Isabel; Guegan, Hélène; Gunde-Cimerman, Nina; Güran, Mümtaz; Irinyi, Laszlo; Jiang, Sunny; Jonikaitė, Egle; Jozić, Slaven; Kataržytė, Marija; Klingspor, Lena; Mares, Mihai; Meijer, Wim; Melchers, Willem; Meletiadis, Joseph; Meyer, Wieland; Nastasa, Valentin; Novak-Babič, Monika; Ogunc, Dilara; Ozhak, Betil; Prigitano, Anna; Ranque, Stéphane; Richardson, Malcolm; Roger, Frédéric; Rusu, Raluca-Oana; Sabino, Raquel; Sampaio, Ana; Silva, Susana; Solo-gabriele, Helena; Stephens, Jayne; Tehupeiory-Kooreman, Marlou; Tortorano, Anna-Maria; Velegraki, Aristea; Veríssimo, Cristina; Vukić Lušić, Darija; Wunderlich, GeorgoaFungal flora in coastal/inland beach sand and recreational water is a neglected field of study, despite its potential impact on human health. A joint International Society for Human and Animal Mycology/European Confederation for Medical Mycology (ISHAM/ECMM) working group was formed in 2019 with the task to set up a vast international initiative aimed at studying the fungal contamination of beaches and bathing waters. Here we review the importance of the topic, and list the main results and achievements from 12 scientific publications. Fungal contamination exists at different levels, and the genera most frequently found were Aspergillus spp., Candida spp., Fusarium spp., and Cryptococcus spp., both in sand and in water. A site-blind median was found to be 89 colony-forming units of fungi per gram of sand in coastal/inland freshwaters. This threshold has been used for the sand quality criterion of the blue flag in Portugal. Additionally, our data were considered pivotal and therefore used for the first inclusion of fungi as a biological taxon of interest in water quality and sand monitoring recommendations of the World Health Organization's new guidelines on recreational water quality (Vol.1-Chap7). The findings of the consortium also suggest how environmental conditions (climate, salinity, soil pH, nitrogen, etc.) influence microbial communities in different regions, and that yeast species like Candida glabrata, Clavispora lusitaniae, and Meyerozyma guilliermondii have been identified as potential fungal indicators of fecal contamination. Climate change and natural disasters may affect fungal populations in different environments, and because this is still a field of study under exploration, we also propose to depict the future challenges of research and unmet needs.