Browsing by Author "Rosado, L."
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- Air fungal contamination in ten hospitals’ food units from LisbonPublication . Viegas, C.; Ramos, C.; Almeida, M.; Sabino, Raquel; Verissimo, Cristina; Rosado, L.A descriptive study was developed to monitor air fungal contamination in ten food units from hospitals. Fifty air samples of 250 litres were collected through impaction method. Samples were collected in food storage facilities, kitchen, food plating, canteen and also, outside premises, since this is the place regarded as reference. Simultaneously, environmental parameters were also monitored, including temperature and relative humidity through the equipment Babouc, LSI Sistems and according to the International Standard ISO 7726.
- Analysis of clinical and environmental Candida parapsilosis isolates by microsatellite genotyping—a tool for hospital infection surveillancePublication . Sabino, Raquel; Sampaio, P.; Rosado, L.; Videira, Z.; Grenouillet, F.; Pais, C.Candida parapsilosis emerged as an important opportunistic pathogen, causing candidaemia worldwide. Nosocomial outbreaks triggered by this species have been frequently described, particularly in cancer patients. For a better understanding of its epidemiology, several typing methods are used and microsatellite analysis has been reported as highly discriminant. The main objective of this work was to study C. parapsilosis isolates by application of microsatellite genotyping to distinguish epidemiologically related strains, compare clinical and environmental isolates and determine possible routes of dispersion of the isolates in the hospital setting. A total of 129 C. parapsilosis isolates from different origins, including hospital environment and hands of healthcare workers, were genotyped using four microsatellite markers. The isolates were recovered from different health institutions. Analysis of C. parapsilosis isolates from hospital environment showed great genotypic diversity; however, the same or very similar genotypes were also found. The same multilocus genotype was shared by isolates recovered from the hand of a healthcare worker, from the hospital environment and from patients of the same healthcare institution, suggesting that these could be possible routes of transmission and that infections due to C. parapsilosis may be mainly related with exogenous transmission to the patient. Examination of sequential isolates from the same patients showed that colonizing and bloodstream isolates had the same multilocus genotype in the majority of cases. We demonstrate that this typing method is able to distinguish clonal clusters from genetically unrelated genotypes and can be a valuable tool to support epidemiologic investigations in the hospital setting.
- Assessment of fungal contamination in a Portuguese maternity unitPublication . Viegas, C.; Sabino, R.; Veríssimo, C.; Rosado, L.A descriptive study was developed to monitor air fungal contamination in one Portuguese maternity. Sixty air samples were collected through impaction method. Air sampling was performed in food storage facilities, kitchen, food plating, canteen, pharmacy, sterilization areas, genecology wards, intensive care unit, operating rooms, urgency and also, outside premises, since this was the place regarded as reference. Besides air samples, forty three samples were collected by swabbing the surfaces using a 10 by 10 cm square stencil. Simultaneously, temperature, relative humidity and particles counting (PM10) were registered. Twenty three species of fungi were identified in air, being the two most commonly isolated the genera Penicillium (41,5%) and Cladosporium (28,4%). Regarding yeasts, only Rhodotorula sp. (45,2%), Trichosporon mucoides (51,6%) and Cryptococcus neoformans (3,2%) were found. Thirteen species of fungi were identified in surfaces, being the most frequent the Penicillium genus (91,6%). Concerning yeasts found in surfaces, four species were identified being Rhodotorula sp. (29,1%) the most frequent. There was no coincidence between prevailing genera indoors and outside premises. Moreover, some places presented fungal species different from the ones isolated outside. In the inside environment, Aspergillus species were isolated in air and surfaces. There was no significant relationship (p>0,05) between fungal contamination and the studied environmental variables. Keywords: air, surfaces, fungal contamination, environmental variables, maternity.
- Comparison of fungal contamination between hospitals and companies food unitsPublication . Viegas, C.; Ramos, C.; Almeida, M.; Sabino, R.; Verissimo, C.; Rosado, L.A descriptive study was developed to compare air and surfaces fungal contamination in ten hospitals’ food units and two food units from companies. Fifty air samples of 250 litres through impaction method were collected from hospitals’ food units and 41 swab samples from surfaces were also collected, using a 10 by 10 cm square stencil. Regarding the two companies, ten air samples and eight surface samples were collected. Air and surface samples were collected in food storage facilities, kitchen, food plating and canteen. Outdoor air was also collected since this is the place regarded as a reference. Simultaneously, temperature, relative humidity and meal numbers were registered. Concerning air from hospitals’ food units, 32 fungal species were identified, being the two most commonly isolated genera Penicillium sp.
- Dermatomycosis in lower limbs of diabetic patients followed by Podiatry consultationPublication . Parada, H.; Veríssimo, C.; Brandão, João; Nunes, Baltazar; Boavida, J.; Duarte, R.; Peerally, Z.; Rosado, L.; Sabino, R.BACKGROUND: Diabetic patients are particularly susceptible to fungal infections due to modifications that occur in their immunological system. These modifications compromise natural defences, such as skin and nails, especially from lower limbs. OBJECTIVES: Assessing the presence of dermatomycosis in lower limbs of Portuguese diabetic patients followed on Podiatry consultation. Determination of possible predisposing factors and the most frequent fungal species associated with the cases are included in the study. METHODS AND PATIENTS: A six-month prospective study was carried out in 163 diabetic patients with signs and symptoms of dermatomycosis followed by Podiatry at the Portuguese Diabetes Association in Lisbon. Samples from the skin and/or nails of the lower limbs were collected and demographic and clinical data of those patients were recorded. RESULTS: Trichophyton rubrum was the most frequently isolated dermatophyte (12.1%), followed by T. mentagrophytes (7.7%) and T. tonsurans (4.4%). Our study showed positive associations between type 2 diabetes and the presence of dermatomycosis in the studied population (p=0.013); also between the occurrence of dermatomycosis and localization of body lesion (p=0.000). No other predisposing factor tested was positively associated with infection (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Data on superficial fungal infections in diabetic patients are scarce in Portugal. This study provides information on the characterization of dermatomycosis in lower limbs of diabetic patients.
- Estudo de Comunidades Fúngicas em Arquivos: Implicações na Conservação e na SaúdePublication . Pinheiro, A.C.; Viegas, C.; Jurado, V.; Sabino, R.; Veríssimo, C.; Rosado, L.; Macedo, M.F.A influência da contaminação fúngica para a saúde ambiental e para a conservação do património é o tema premente e actual que suscitou a hipótese de estudo aqui apresentada. Os fungos, dada a sua extrema capacidade de adaptação, podem colonizar diversos materiais – orgânicos ou não – e a sua acção pode ser mecânica, por intermédio das suas hifas ou química, através dos seus metabolitos.Em termos de conservação do património, os estudos sobre fungos têm suscitado grande interesse dada a sua elevada capacidade de biodeterioração. Tendo inicialmente assentado em técnicas tradicionais de cultur), os estudos mais recentes já incluem técnicas modernas de biologia molecular. O estudo apresentado utiliza ambas as técnicas: a tradicional, recorrendo a meios de cultura e a mais recente, usando o DNA e a amplificação genómica para conseguir identificar os fungos até à espécie. Para conseguir realizar este intuito foi desenvolvida a aplicação da recente técnica de cromatografia líquida desnaturante de alta resolução (DHPLC) à análise de amostras complexas de fungos filamentosos e leveduriformes.A investigação executada permitiu identificar focos de contaminação fúngica que ultrapassam os limites aconselháveis em termos de qualidade do ar interior. As espécies Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus ou Stachybotrys atra, todos eles encontrados em ambiente arquivístico são presenças relevantes em termos de qualidade do ar interior pois são indicadoras de más condições ambientais.A optimização da aplicação de cromatografia desnaturante à mistura de leveduras e fungos filamentos permite identificar os componentes da mistura e pode ser usada no contexto clínico e no contexto ambiental, em amostras de papel ou noutro tipo de amostras.
- Pathogenic fungi: an unacknowledged risk at coastal resorts? New insights on microbiological sand quality in PortugalPublication . Sabino, R.; Veríssimo, C.; Cunha, M.A.; Wergikoski, B.; Ferreira, F.C.; Rodrigues, R.; Parada, H.; Falcão, L.; Rosado, L.; Pinheiro, C.; Paixão, E.; Brandão, JoãoWhilst the potential impact on beach users from microorganisms in water has received considerable attention, there has been relatively little investigation into microbial contaminants in sand. Thirty three beaches across Portugal were analyzed during a five year period (2006–2010) to determine the presence of yeasts, pathogenic fungi, dermatophytes, total coliforms, Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci in sand. Our results showed that 60.4% of the samples were positive for fungi and that 25.2% were positive for the bacterial parameters. The most frequent fungal species found were Candida sp. and Aspergillus sp., whereas intestinal enterococci were the most frequently isolated bacteria. Positive associations were detected among analyzed parameters and country-regions but none among those parameters and sampling period. Regarding threshold values, we propose 15 cfu/g for yeasts, 17 cfu/g for potential pathogenic fungi, 8 cfu/g for dermatophytes, 25 cfu/g for E. coli, and 10 cfu/g for intestinal enterococci.