This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bouza, E.
Right arrow Articles by Muñoz, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Bouza, E.
Right arrow Articles by Muñoz, P.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 2005, p. 2075-2079, Vol. 43, No. 5
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.5.2075-2079.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Workload Due to Aspergillus fumigatus and Significance of the Organism in the Microbiology Laboratory of a General Hospital

E. Bouza, J. Guinea,* T. Peláez, J. Pérez-Molina, L. Alcalá, and P. Muñoz

Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain

Received 15 October 2004/ Returned for modification 8 November 2004/ Accepted 16 January 2005

The increase in the immunocompromised population and the incidence of invasive aspergillosis (IA) are leading to an overinterpretation of the potential clinical significance of many isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus. Our work prospectively assesses the workload of the isolation of A. fumigatus and its clinical significance in the microbiology laboratory of a large teaching hospital. During a 3-year period, all patients from whom A. fumigatus was isolated were prospectively monitored and classified as having IA or "nonsignificant" disease. A point score based on the prediction of five easily obtained laboratory and clinical parameters was applied. We found 404 A. fumigatus isolates in 260 patients (1/1,000 microbiology laboratory samples; 2.1 patients/10,000 admissions). A total of 90 isolates (22.3%) were from patients with IA. Of the 260 patients, 31 (12%) had invasive disease (IA), and the remaining 229 had "nonsignificant" disease. A score based on points for five parameters was applied to our population. It was constructed as follows: "sample obtained by invasive procedures" (1 point), "presence of two or more positive samples from the same patient" (1 point), "leukemia" (2 points), "neutropenia" (5 points), and "corticosteroid treatment" (2 points). Patients with a score of 0 had only a 2.5% probability of IA. Those with a score of 1 or 2 had an increased probability of 10.3%. The probabilities rose to 40% and 70%, respectively, for patients with a score of 3 or 4 or a score of ≥5. A simple score based on five easily available parameters may be of help to microbiologists and clinicians to predict the risk of IA.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Avda. Dr. Esquerdo 46, 28007 Madrid, Spain. Phone: 34-915868453. Fax: 34-915044906. E-mail: jguineaortega{at}yahoo.es.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 2005, p. 2075-2079, Vol. 43, No. 5
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.5.2075-2079.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»