Abstract

The genus Aspergillus contains about 180 validly described saprophytic species. Nearly 10 percent of these species can cause a wide spectrum of infectious disease including life threatening invasive aspergillosis, colonization of the sinus and respiratory organs as well as allergic diseases. Cases of life threatening invasive aspergillosis have been steadily rising throughout the world. While prophylactic antifungal drugs have reduced the mortality due to invasive aspergillosis in immunosuppressed and immunodeficient patients, the overall case fatality rate remains well above 50% making it one of the most difficult microbial diseases to manage. A. fumigatus is by far the most common cause of invasive aspergillosis regardless of the underlying conditions of patients. Old concepts regarding the identification of Aspergillus species have strictly been based on morphological characteristics which have often been problematic due to their variability. The new classification concept employs phenotypic characteristics with multigene DNA sequences. The new method allowed differentiation of genetically distinct but morphologically similar sister species of A. fumigatus. The recently described A. lentinus is one such example which had previously been identified as A. fumigatus. Clinical diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis without waiting for isolation of culture has also made significant progress during the past 10 years. This lecture will focus on recent developments in the diagnosis of aspergillosis and the biological

characteristics of A. fumigatus which renders it to be the primary cause of invasive aspergillosis.

Keywords

KJMM 2007 March;12(1):31-56(26). Epub 2016 February 19
Copyright © 2007 by Korean Journal of Medical Mycology

Language

English

Author

Kyung J. Kwon-Chung; Molecular Microbiology Section, Laboratory of Clinical Infectious Diseases National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA

Corresponding

Kyung J. Kwon-Chung. Molecular Microbiology Section, Laboratory of Clinical Infectious Diseases National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.

Publication history

Acknowledgements

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Kyung J. Kwon-Chung

Molecular Microbiology Section, Laboratory of Clinical Infectious Diseases National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA

Since epub date 2016 February 19