Percorrer por autor "Richardson, Malcolm"
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- 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.
- The human lung and Aspergillus: You are what you breathe in?Publication . Richardson, Malcolm; Bowyer, Paul; Sabino, RaquelThe diversity of fungal species comprising the lung mycobiome is a reflection of exposure to environmental and endogenous filamentous fungi and yeasts. Most lung mycobiome studies have been culture-based. A few have utilized next generation sequencing (NGS). Despite the low number of published NGS studies, several themes emerge from the literature: (1) moulds and yeasts are present in the human respiratory tract, even during health; (2) the fungi present in the respiratory tract are highly variable between individuals; and (3) many diseases are accompanied by decreased diversity of fungi in the lungs. Even in patients with the same disease, different patients have been shown to harbor distinct fungal communities. Those fungal species present in any one individual may represent a patient's unique environmental exposure(s), either to species restricted to the indoor environment, for example, Penicillium, or species found in the outdoor environment such as Aspergillus, wood and vegetation colonizing fungi and plant pathogens. In addition to causing clinical fungal infections, the lung mycobiome may have inflammatory effects that can cause or worsen lung disease. Most respiratory diseases that have been studied, have been associated with decreases in fungal diversity. However, none of these diversity studies distinguish between accidental, transient fungal colonizers and true residents of the respiratory tract. Where does Aspergillus feature in the mycobiomes of the respiratory tract? Do these mycobiomes reflect the diversity of fungi in outdoor and internal environments? These intriguing questions are explored here.
- The role of occupational Aspergillus exposure in the development of diseasesPublication . Sabino, Raquel; Veríssimo, Cristina; Viegas, Carla; Viegas, Susana; Brandão, João; Alves-Correia, Magna; Borrego, Luís-Miguel; Clemons, Karl V.; Stevens, David A.; Richardson, MalcolmAspergillus spp. have a high nutritional versatility and good growth on a large variety of construction materials. They also colonize soil or food, but decaying vegetation is their primary ecological niche. Therefore, exposure to fungi may occur at home, during hospitalization, during specific leisure activities, or at the workplace. The development of Aspergillus infections depends on the interplay between host susceptibility and the organism. Environments with high counts of fungal elements (conidia, hyphal fragments and others), high levels of bioarerosols, and elevated concentrations of mycotoxins or other volatile organic compounds should be considered as potential hazards, since they may present a risk to the exposed person. Rural tasks as well as work related to wood and food industries, poultries, swineries, waste handling plants, and other occupational environments involving contaminated organic material are among the ones posing higher respiratory risks to the workers. This paper presents a review of several studies related to occupational and indoor exposure to Aspergillus, potential health effects related to that exposure, and associated exposure assessment procedures.