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Infection caused by Sporothrix schenckii: an autochthonous case in Bari, Southern Italy

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Abstract

An autochthonous case of lymphocutaneous sporotrichosis caused by Sporothrix schenckii is reported. The patient developed skin lesions localized along the lymphatics that appeared after he suffered an injury while collecting wicker canes in marshy water. The fungus was identified as Sporothrix schenckii by MALDI-TOF and sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis was also performed. Low MIC values were detected for all tested echinocandins and azoles except for fluconazole. The patient was treated with itraconazole without significant improvement. A regression of lesions was observed after 3 months of therapy with voriconazole. Few cases of sporotrichosis have been reported in Europe. However, several cases of sporotrichosis have been described in Italy. The incidence of sporotrichosis in Italy may be underestimated and microbiologists, and clinicians must be aware of this fungal infection.

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Article Open access 30 October 2020

Conchita Toriello, Carolina Brunner-Mendoza, … María del Rocío Reyes-Montes

Availability of data and material

The isolated strain of S. schenckii is available for authors having scientific interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza G. Cesare 11, 70124, Bari, Italy

    Rosa Monno & Luciana Fumarola

  2. Clinic of Infectious Diseases, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70124, Bari, Italy

    Gaetano Brindicci, Michele Mariani & Laura Monno

  3. Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

    Orazio Romeo & Giuseppe Criseo

  4. Department of Laboratory Sciences and Infectious Diseases, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy

    Elena De Carolis & Maurizio Sanguinetti

  5. Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation (DETO), Pathology Section, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy

    Giuseppe Ingravallo

Authors
  1. Rosa Monno
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  2. Gaetano Brindicci
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rosa Monno.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethics

The study did not require approval from the ethics committee, according to the Italian law, since it was performed in the context of normal clinical routines (Art. 1, Leg. Decree 211/2003). However, all patients referring to our institute provided consent for the use of their data for research purposes. In any case, data were previously anonymized, according to the requirements set by Italian Data Protection Code (Leg. Decree 196/2003).

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Monno, R., Brindicci, G., Romeo, O. et al. Infection caused by Sporothrix schenckii: an autochthonous case in Bari, Southern Italy. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 39, 2457–2460 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-020-03939-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-020-03939-z

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