Scholars@Duke
Ilan Schwartz

Ilan Schwartz

Associate Professor of Medicine
Medicine, Infectious Diseases

Selected Publications

Geographical distribution of the Cryptococcus gattii species complex: a systematic review.

Journal Article Lancet Microbe · August 24, 2024 The taxonomy of the Cryptococcus gattii species complex continues to evolve, and has been divided into five pathogenic species. The objective of this systematic review was to summarise the geographical distribution of the C gattii species complex and the s ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinical Mycology Today: Emerging Challenges and Opportunities.

Journal Article Open Forum Infect Dis · July 2024 The Mycoses Study Group Education and Research Consortium is a collective of clinicians, researchers, and educators with the common goal to advance awareness, diagnosis, and management of invasive fungal diseases. Clinical Mycology Today, the Mycoses Study ... Full text Link to item Cite

Black Box Warning: Large Language Models and the Future of Infectious Diseases Consultation.

Journal Article Clin Infect Dis · April 10, 2024 Large language models (LLMs) are artificial intelligence systems trained by deep learning algorithms to process natural language and generate text responses to user prompts. Some approach physician performance on a range of medical challenges, leading some ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

The pathogenesis of experimental Emergomycosis in mice.

Journal Article PLoS Negl Trop Dis · January 2024 Emergomyces africanus is a recently identified thermally-dimorphic fungal pathogen that causes disseminated infection in people living with advanced HIV disease. Known as emergomycosis, this disseminated disease is associated with very high case fatality r ... Full text Link to item Cite

Systemic corticosteroids for outpatient respiratory viral infections in lung transplant recipients.

Journal Article Transpl Infect Dis · December 2023 INTRODUCTION: Respiratory viral infections (RVI) in lung transplant recipients (LTR) have variably been associated with rejection and chronic lung allograft dysfunction. Our center has used systemic corticosteroids to treat outpatient RVI in some cases, bu ... Full text Link to item Cite

Development and validation of a colorimetric antifungal susceptibility testing method for the dimorphic fungus Talaromyces marneffei.

Journal Article Med Mycol · November 6, 2023 Antifungal drug resistance is an emerging cause of treatment failure in invasive fungal infections, and antifungal susceptibility testing (AFST) may inform treatment decisions. Currently, there are no established AFST guidelines for Talaromyces marneffei ( ... Full text Link to item Cite

Fungal Endocarditis: Pathophysiology, Epidemiology, Clinical Presentation, Diagnosis, and Management.

Journal Article Clin Microbiol Rev · September 21, 2023 Fungal endocarditis accounts for 1% to 3% of all infective endocarditis cases, is associated with high morbidity and mortality (>70%), and presents numerous challenges during clinical care. Candida spp. are the most common causes of fungal endocarditis, im ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Emergomycosis

Chapter · September 14, 2023 Emergomycosis is an invasive fungal disease caused by dimorphic fungi from the recently described Onyenalean genus, Emergomyces. The disease has been reported from four continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America), although by far the most cases ha ... Full text Cite

Emerging Diagnostics and Therapeutics for Invasive Fungal Infections.

Journal Article Infectious disease clinics of North America · September 2023 Recently, there have been significant advances in the diagnosis and management of invasive fungal infections. Compared with traditional fungal diagnostics, molecular assays promise improved sensitivity and specificity, the ability to test a range of sample ... Full text Cite

Multicentric Case Series and Literature Review of Coccidioidal Otomastoiditis.

Journal Article Emerg Infect Dis · July 2023 Coccidioidomycosis involving the ear, mastoid bone, or both is uncommon. We describe 5 new cases from the United States and review 4 cases reported in the literature of otomycosis and mastoiditis caused by Coccidioides. Of the 9 cases, 8 were linked to res ... Full text Link to item Cite

Hydroxychloroquine for treatment of non-hospitalized adults with COVID-19: A meta-analysis of individual participant data of randomized trials.

Journal Article Clin Transl Sci · March 2023 Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was initially promoted as an oral therapy for early treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Conventional meta-analyses cannot fully address the heterogeneity of different designs and outcomes of randomized controlled tria ... Full text Link to item Cite

Patient-reported outcomes of neurologic and neuropsychiatric symptoms in mild COVID-19: a prospective cohort study.

Journal Article CMAJ Open · 2023 BACKGROUND: Various neurologic manifestations have been reported in patients with COVID-19, mostly in retrospective studies of patients admitted to hospital, but there are few data on patients with mild COVID-19. We examined the frequency and persistence o ... Full text Link to item Cite

A consensus conference to define the utility of advanced infectious disease diagnostics in solid organ transplant recipients.

Journal Article Am J Transplant · December 2022 The last decade has seen an explosion of advanced assays for the diagnosis of infectious diseases, yet evidence-based recommendations to inform their optimal use in the care of transplant recipients are lacking. A consensus conference sponsored by the Amer ... Full text Link to item Cite

Current situation of endemic mycosis in the Americas and the Caribbean: Proceedings of the first international meeting on endemic mycoses of the Americas (IMEMA).

Journal Article Mycoses · December 2022 BACKGROUND: The Americas are home to biologically and clinically diverse endemic fungi, including Blastomyces, Coccidioides, Emergomyces, Histoplasma, Paracoccidioides and Sporothrix. In endemic areas with high risk of infection, these fungal pathogens rep ... Full text Link to item Cite

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Journal Article CMAJ · November 21, 2022 Full text Link to item Cite

The rose-coloured glasses are cracked.

Journal Article J Assoc Med Microbiol Infect Dis Can · September 2022 Full text Link to item Cite

Invasive candidiasis: investigational drugs in the clinical development pipeline and mechanisms of action.

Journal Article Expert Opin Investig Drugs · August 2022 INTRODUCTION: The epidemiology of invasive Candida infections is evolving. Infections caused by non-albicans Candida spp. are increasing; however, the antifungal pipeline is more promising than ever and is enriched with repurposed drugs and agents that hav ... Full text Link to item Cite

Quality of life, respiratory symptoms, and health care utilization 1 year following outpatient management of COVID-19: a prospective cohort study.

Journal Article Sci Rep · July 29, 2022 The long-term impact of COVID-19 among those with mild infections is not well characterized. Among 81 adults who completed online assessments at 3- and 12-months following infection, quality of life scores did not significantly improve over time. Among 62 ... Full text Link to item Cite

Low-dose trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for the treatment of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (LOW-TMP): protocol for a phase III randomised, placebo-controlled, dose-comparison trial.

Journal Article BMJ Open · July 21, 2022 INTRODUCTION: Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is an opportunistic infection of immunocompromised hosts with significant morbidity and mortality. The current standard of care, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) at a dose of 15-20 mg/kg/day, is a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Defining COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Journal Article Clin Microbiol Infect · July 2022 BACKGROUND: Pulmonary aspergillosis may complicate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and contribute to excess mortality in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. The disease is poorly understood, in part due to discordant definitions across studies. OBJECTI ... Full text Link to item Cite

Implantation subcutaneous phaeohyphomycosis caused by Rhytidhysteron rufulum: A case report.

Journal Article Med Mycol Case Rep · June 2022 Subcutaneous phaeohyphomycosis is caused by traumatic implantation of melanized environmental fungi. The majority of cases occur in tropical areas of the world or are associated with travel from these regions. Herein, we describe a rare case of subcutaneou ... Full text Link to item Cite

Educational Impact of #IDJClub, a Twitter-Based Infectious Diseases Journal Club.

Journal Article Clin Infect Dis · May 15, 2022 BACKGROUND: Journal clubs have been an enduring mainstay of medical education, and hosting these on social media platforms can expand accessibility and engagement. We describe the creation and impact of #IDJClub, an infectious diseases (ID) Twitter journal ... Full text Link to item Cite

#SoMe the Money! Value, Strategy, and Implementation of Social Media Engagement for Infectious Diseases Trainees, Clinicians, and Divisions.

Journal Article Clin Infect Dis · May 15, 2022 Social media platforms have revolutionized how we consume information, along with how to effectively present communication, education, and advocacy efforts. There is profound value in leveraging social media within these aspects for the field of infectious ... Full text Link to item Cite

Use of Novel Strategies to Develop Guidelines for Management of Pyogenic Osteomyelitis in Adults: A WikiGuidelines Group Consensus Statement.

Journal Article JAMA Netw Open · May 2, 2022 IMPORTANCE: Traditional approaches to practice guidelines frequently result in dissociation between strength of recommendation and quality of evidence. OBJECTIVE: To construct a clinical guideline for pyogenic osteomyelitis management, with a new standard ... Full text Link to item Cite

Four genomic clades of Candida auris identified in Canada, 2012-2019.

Journal Article Med Mycol · January 10, 2022 UNLABELLED: Candida auris is an emerging yeast that is associated with antifungal resistance and healthcare-associated outbreaks. From 2012 to 2019, there were 24 known cases of C. auris colonization or infection in Canada. Isolates were from axilla/groin ... Full text Link to item Cite

Use of virtual care by infectious disease specialists in Canada: A national survey.

Journal Article Antimicrob Steward Healthc Epidemiol · 2022 OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to characterize the type and extent of virtual care use among infectious disease specialists in Canada, with a focus on the clinical factors that influence the decision to provide virtual versus in-person care. METHODS: ... Full text Link to item Cite

Coronavirus Disease 2019-Associated Invasive Fungal Infection.

Journal Article Open Forum Infect Dis · December 2021 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can become complicated by secondary invasive fungal infections (IFIs), stemming primarily from severe lung damage and immunologic deficits associated with the virus or immunomodulatory therapy. Other risk factors include ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Global guideline for the diagnosis and management of the endemic mycoses: an initiative of the European Confederation of Medical Mycology in cooperation with the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology.

Journal Article Lancet Infect Dis · December 2021 The global burden of the endemic mycoses (blastomycosis, coccidioidomycosis, emergomycosis, histoplasmosis, paracoccidioidomycosis, sporotrichosis, and talaromycosis) continues to rise yearly and these infectious diseases remain a leading cause of patient ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Blastomycosis in Africa and the Middle East: A Comprehensive Review of Reported Cases and Reanalysis of Historical Isolates Based on Molecular Data.

Journal Article Clin Infect Dis · October 5, 2021 BACKGROUND: Blastomycosis has been reported from countries in Africa and the Middle East, but a decades-long debate has persisted regarding whether this is the same disease known in North America and caused by Blastomyces dermatitidis and Blastomyces gilch ... Full text Link to item Cite

Invasive mould disease in fatal COVID-19: a systematic review of autopsies.

Journal Article Lancet Microbe · August 2021 Invasive mould disease (IMD) might affect up to a third of critically ill patients with COVID-19. COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) is typically diagnosed on the basis of a combination of non-specific clinical, radiographical, and mycologi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cross-reactivity of a Histoplasma capsulatum antigen enzyme immunoassay in urine specimens from persons with emergomycosis in South Africa.

Journal Article Med Mycol · July 6, 2021 UNLABELLED: Histoplasma antigen detection in urine is a rapid diagnostic method for disseminated histoplasmosis, although cross-reactivity has been reported in specimens from patients with other thermally dimorphic fungal infections. We tested urine specim ... Full text Link to item Cite

Emerging Fungal Infections.

Journal Article Infect Dis Clin North Am · June 2021 Various uncommon fungal pathogens have been increasingly identified as causes of disseminated and invasive fungal disease (IFD) worldwide. Growing recognition and clinical knowledge of these emerging fungal pathogens has occurred through improved molecular ... Full text Link to item Cite

Histoplasmosis acquired in Alberta, Canada: an epidemiological and genomic study.

Journal Article Lancet Microbe · May 2021 BACKGROUND: The classic geographical range of histoplasmosis in North America primarily includes the states and provinces adjacent to the Ohio, Mississippi, and St Lawrence riverways. Although Alberta, Canada is not typically considered a region of risk fo ... Full text Link to item Cite

Variability of Hydroxy-Itraconazole in Relation to Itraconazole Bloodstream Concentrations.

Journal Article Antimicrob Agents Chemother · March 18, 2021 We analyzed the relationship between itraconazole (ITZ) and hydroxy-itraconazole (OH-ITZ) levels in 1,223 human samples. Overall, there was a statistically significant correlation between ITZ and OH-ITZ levels (Pearson's r, 0.7838), and OH-ITZ levels were ... Full text Link to item Cite

Reply to Ku et al.

Journal Article Clin Infect Dis · March 1, 2021 Full text Link to item Cite

Bacterial Superinfections Among Persons With Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Comprehensive Review of Data From Postmortem Studies.

Journal Article Open Forum Infect Dis · March 2021 BACKGROUND: Limited clinical data suggest a ~16% prevalence of bacterial superinfections among critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: We reviewed postmortem studies of patients with COVID-19 published in English through ... Full text Link to item Cite

Increased mortality associated with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus in patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis: a single US cohort study.

Journal Article Ther Adv Infect Dis · 2021 BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus is an established risk factor for bacterial infections, but its role in cryptococcosis is unclear. The study aimed to determine whether uncontrolled diabetes (HbA1c >7%) was an independent risk factor for mortality in cryptoco ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Canadian Fungal Research Network: current challenges and future opportunities.

Journal Article Can J Microbiol · January 2021 Fungi critically impact the health and function of global ecosystems and economies. In Canada, fungal researchers often work within silos defined by subdiscipline and institutional type, complicating the collaborations necessary to understand the impacts f ... Full text Link to item Cite

Stockholm Syndrome: How to come to peace with our captor.

Journal Article J Assoc Med Microbiol Infect Dis Can · December 2020 Full text Link to item Cite

Remdesivir: a pendulum in a pandemic.

Journal Article BMJ · November 24, 2020 Full text Link to item Cite

Safety of Hydroxychloroquine Among Outpatient Clinical Trial Participants for COVID-19.

Journal Article Open Forum Infect Dis · November 2020 BACKGROUND: Use of hydroxychloroquine in hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially in combination with azithromycin, has raised safety concerns. Here, we report safety data from 3 outpatient randomized clinical trials. METH ... Full text Link to item Cite

High Rates of Influenza-Associated Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis May Not Be Universal: A Retrospective Cohort Study from Alberta, Canada.

Journal Article Clin Infect Dis · October 23, 2020 From 2014-2019, invasive pulmonary aspergillosis complicated 7.2% (0-23.1% in different influenza seasons) of cases of influenza-associated respiratory failure in Edmonton, Alberta. Disease outcomes ranged from survival without therapy to death despite ant ... Full text Link to item Cite

Hydroxychloroquine in Nonhospitalized Adults With Early COVID-19 : A Randomized Trial.

Journal Article Ann Intern Med · October 20, 2020 BACKGROUND: No effective oral therapy exists for early coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether hydroxychloroquine could reduce COVID-19 severity in adult outpatients. DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial ... Full text Link to item Cite

Diagnosis of Breakthrough Fungal Infections in the Clinical Mycology Laboratory: An ECMM Consensus Statement.

Journal Article J Fungi (Basel) · October 11, 2020 Breakthrough invasive fungal infections (bIFI) cause significant morbidity and mortality. Their diagnosis can be challenging due to reduced sensitivity to conventional culture techniques, serologic tests, and PCR-based assays in patients undergoing antifun ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Re-drawing the Maps for Endemic Mycoses.

Journal Article Mycopathologia · October 2020 Endemic mycoses such as histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, blastomycosis, paracoccidioidomycosis, and talaromycosis are well-known causes of focal and systemic disease within specific geographic areas of known endemicity. However, over the past few decade ... Full text Link to item Cite

Safety of Hydroxychloroquine among Outpatient Clinical Trial Participants for COVID-19.

Journal Article medRxiv · September 21, 2020 INTRODUCTION: Use of hydroxychloroquine in hospitalized patients with COVID-19, especially in combination with azithromycin, has raised safety concerns. Here, we report safety data from three outpatient randomized clinical trials. METHODS: We conducted thr ... Full text Link to item Cite

Post-exposure prophylaxis or pre-emptive therapy for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2): study protocol for a pragmatic randomized-controlled trial.

Journal Article Can J Anaesth · September 2020 BACKGROUND: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in December 2019 causing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Currently, there is a lack of evidence-based therapies to prevent COVID-19 following exposure to the ... Full text Link to item Cite

A Randomized Trial of Hydroxychloroquine as Postexposure Prophylaxis for Covid-19.

Journal Article N Engl J Med · August 6, 2020 BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) occurs after exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). For persons who are exposed, the standard of care is observation and quarantine. Whether hydroxychloroquine can prevent s ... Full text Link to item Cite

Balancing Scientific Rigor With Urgency in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

Journal Article Open Forum Infect Dis · August 2020 Knowledge dissemination during COVID19 has been notable for the rise of pre-prints and publication by press release, favoring speed over accuracy. We stress the importance of journals in this landscape and highlight the value of editorial judgment and peer ... Full text Link to item Cite

Prevalence of Candida auris in Canadian acute care hospitals among at-risk patients, 2018.

Journal Article Antimicrob Resist Infect Control · June 10, 2020 To identify the prevalence of C. auris in Canadian patients who are potentially at risk for colonization, we screened 488 patients who were either hospitalized abroad, had a carbapenemase-producing organism (CPO), or were in units with high antifungal use. ... Full text Link to item Cite

The virulence factor urease and its unexplored role in the metabolism of Cryptococcus neoformans.

Journal Article FEMS Yeast Res · June 1, 2020 Cryptococcal urease is believed to be important for the degradation of exogenous urea that the yeast encounters both in its natural environment and within the human host. Endogenous urea produced by the yeast's own metabolic reactions, however, may also se ... Full text Link to item Cite

Review: Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine for Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).

Journal Article Open Forum Infect Dis · April 2020 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a rapidly emerging viral infection causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have garnered unprecedented attention as potential therapeutic agents against ... Full text Link to item Cite

Human Blastomycosis in South Africa Caused by Blastomyces percursus and Blastomyces emzantsi sp. nov., 1967 to 2014.

Journal Article J Clin Microbiol · February 24, 2020 We reevaluated 20 cases of blastomycosis diagnosed in South Africa between 1967 and 2014, with Blastomyces dermatitidis considered to be the etiological agent, in light of newly described species and the use of more advanced technologies. In addition to hi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Blastomycosis.

Journal Article Semin Respir Crit Care Med · February 2020 Blastomycosis is a serious fungal disease of humans and other mammals caused by environmentally acquired infection with geographically restricted, thermally dimorphic fungi belonging to the genus Blastomyces. The genetic and geographic diversity of these p ... Full text Link to item Cite

The use of genome sequencing to investigate an outbreak of hospital-acquired mucormycosis in transplant patients.

Journal Article Transpl Infect Dis · October 2019 We report three cases of hospital-acquired mucormycosis in heart and lung transplant patients over a 6-month period. Traditional epidemiological investigation tools were used to look for a common link between patients to explain the outbreak. Genome sequen ... Full text Link to item Cite

Candida auris.

Journal Article CMAJ · August 6, 2019 Full text Link to item Cite

Emerging Fungal Infections: New Patients, New Patterns, and New Pathogens.

Journal Article J Fungi (Basel) · July 20, 2019 : The landscape of clinical mycology is constantly changing. New therapies for malignant and autoimmune diseases have led to new risk factors for unusual mycoses. Invasive candidiasis is increasingly caused by non-albicans Candida spp., including C. auris, ... Full text Link to item Cite

Utility of CT assessment in hematology patients with invasive aspergillosis: a post-hoc analysis of phase 3 data.

Journal Article BMC Infect Dis · May 28, 2019 BACKGROUND: Pulmonary computed tomography (CT) scans are commonly used as part of the clinical criteria in diagnostic workup of invasive fungal diseases like invasive aspergillosis, and may identify radiographic abnormalities, such as halo signs or air-cre ... Full text Link to item Cite

Blastomyces helicus, a New Dimorphic Fungus Causing Fatal Pulmonary and Systemic Disease in Humans and Animals in Western Canada and the United States.

Journal Article Clin Infect Dis · January 7, 2019 BACKGROUND: Blastomyces helicus (formerly Emmonsia helica) is a dimorphic fungus first isolated from a man with fungal encephalitis in Alberta, Canada. The geographic range, epidemiology, and clinical features of disease are unknown. METHODS: We reviewed h ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

The estimated burden of fungal disease in South Africa

Journal Article South African Medical Journal · January 1, 2019 Background. With a population of 56.5 million, over 7 million persons living with HIV, one of the world's highest rates of tuberculosis (TB) and a large proportion of the population living in poverty, South Africa (SA)'s fungal disease burden is probably s ... Full text Cite

Something wicked this way comes: What health care providers need to know about Candida auris.

Journal Article Can Commun Dis Rep · November 1, 2018 Candida auris is a fungal pathogen that recently emerged and rapidly spread around the globe. It is now in Canada. C. auris can cause invasive disease with high mortality rates, is frequently resistant to one or more classes of antifungals, and can be diff ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effects of Sexual Network Connectivity and Antimicrobial Drug Use on Antimicrobial Resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Journal Article Emerg Infect Dis · July 2018 Contemporary strategies to curtail the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae include screening for and treating asymptomatic infections in high-prevalence populations in whom antimicrobial drug-resistant infections have typically e ... Full text Link to item Cite

Blastomycosis in mammals

Chapter · June 11, 2018 Blastomycosis is a serious fungal disease of dogs, humans, and occasionally other mammals caused by geographically restricted, thermally dimorphic Blastomyces species. Blastomycosis is primarily a canine disease, with approximately ten dogs diagnosed for e ... Full text Cite

Adiaspiromycosis and diseases caused by related fungi in ajellomycetaceae

Chapter · June 11, 2018 Adiaspiromycosis, classically caused by Emmonsia species, is primarily a pulmonary disease affecting small mammals, especially members of the orders Rodentia and Carnivora. The disease name derives from the tissue form of the fungus (adiaspores), which dev ... Full text Cite

Attempted molecular detection of the thermally dimorphic human fungal pathogen Emergomyces africanus in terrestrial small mammals in South Africa.

Journal Article Med Mycol · June 1, 2018 The ecological niche of Emergomyces africanus (formerly Emmonsia species), a dimorphic fungus that causes an AIDS-related mycosis in South Africa, is unknown. We hypothesized that natural infection with E. africanus occurs in wild small mammals. Using mole ... Full text Link to item Cite

Phylogeny, ecology and taxonomy of systemic pathogens and their relatives in Ajellomycetaceae (Onygenales): Blastomyces, Emergomyces, Emmonsia, Emmonsiellopsis

Journal Article Fungal Diversity · May 1, 2018 The family Ajellomycetaceae (Onygenales) includes mammal-associated pathogens within the genera Blastomyces, Emmonsia, Histoplasma and Paracoccidioides, as well as the recently described genera, Emergomyces that causes disease in immunocompromised hosts, a ... Full text Cite

Emergomyces canadensis, a Dimorphic Fungus Causing Fatal Systemic Human Disease in North America.

Journal Article Emerg Infect Dis · April 2018 We report 4 patients in North America with disease caused by Emergomyces canadensis, a newly proposed species of pathogenic dimorphic fungus. Affected persons were immunocompromised; lived in Saskatchewan, Colorado, and New Mexico; and had systemic disease ... Full text Link to item Cite

Emergomyces: a New Genus of Dimorphic Fungal Pathogens Causing Disseminated Disease among Immunocompromised Persons Globally

Journal Article Current Fungal Infection Reports · March 1, 2018 Purpose of Review: The emergence of a group of previously unknown or unrecognized dimorphic fungal species causing systemic human disease resulted in taxonomic shifts and the creation of a new genus, Emergomyces, within Onygenales. We review the morphology ... Full text Cite

The Emerging Threat of Antifungal Resistance in Transplant Infectious Diseases.

Journal Article Curr Infect Dis Rep · February 5, 2018 PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The global emergence of antifungal resistance among Candida spp. and Aspergillus spp. will disproportionately affect transplantation recipients, who are prone to invasive fungal disease. RECENT FINDINGS: Invasive candidiasis is increasin ... Full text Link to item Cite

Emergomyces africanus in Soil, South Africa.

Journal Article Emerg Infect Dis · February 2018 We detected Emergomyces africanus, a thermally dimorphic fungus that causes an HIV-associated systemic mycosis, by PCR in 18 (30%) of 60 soil samples from a wide range of habitats in South Africa. Direct and indirect culture techniques were unsuccessful. E ... Full text Link to item Cite

Strong association between higher-risk sex and HIV prevalence at the regional level: an ecological study of 27 sub-Saharan African countries.

Journal Article F1000Res · 2018 Background: It is unclear why HIV prevalence varies by nearly two orders of magnitude between regions within countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In this ecological study, we assess if HIV prevalence by region is associated with any of four markers of higher r ... Full text Link to item Cite

Molecular detection of airborne Emergomyces africanus, a thermally dimorphic fungal pathogen, in Cape Town, South Africa.

Journal Article PLoS Negl Trop Dis · January 2018 Emergomyces africanus is a thermally dimorphic fungus that causes a systemic mycosis in immunocompromised persons in South Africa. Infection is presumed to follow inhalation of airborne propagules. We developed a quantitative PCR protocol able to detect as ... Full text Link to item Cite

Emmonsia helica Infection in HIV-Infected Man, California, USA.

Journal Article Emerg Infect Dis · January 2018 Emmonsia-like fungi have rarely been reported from North America. We report a fatal case of E. helica infection in a man with advanced HIV infection from California, USA, who had progressive respiratory failure and a brain abscess. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Emerging Emergomyces africanus in Africa

Conference MEDICAL MYCOLOGY · 2018 Cite

First report of urease activity in the novel systemic fungal pathogen Emergomyces africanus: a comparison with the neurotrope Cryptococcus neoformans.

Journal Article FEMS Yeast Res · November 1, 2017 Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for the AIDS-defining illness, cryptococcal meningitis. During the disease process, entry of cryptococcal cells into the brain is facilitated by virulence factors that include urease enzyme a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Update on Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Antifungals for the Prophylaxis and Treatment of Invasive Fungal Infections

Journal Article Current Fungal Infection Reports · September 1, 2017 Purpose of Review: Certain antifungals used as therapy for invasive fungal disease, including the extended-spectrum triazoles, may be limited by variable pharmacokinetics and drug interactions. This is especially important when drug exposure, as measured b ... Full text Cite

In Vitro Antifungal Susceptibility of Yeast and Mold Phases of Isolates of Dimorphic Fungal Pathogen Emergomyces africanus (Formerly Emmonsia sp.) from HIV-Infected South African Patients.

Journal Article J Clin Microbiol · June 2017 Disseminated emmonsiosis is an important AIDS-related mycosis in South Africa that is caused by Emergomycesafricanus, a newly described and renamed dimorphic fungal pathogen. In vitro antifungal susceptibility data can guide management. Identification of i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Novel taxa of thermally dimorphic systemic pathogens in the Ajellomycetaceae (Onygenales).

Journal Article Mycoses · May 2017 Recent discoveries of novel systemic fungal pathogens with thermally dimorphic yeast-like phases have challenged the current taxonomy of the Ajellomycetaceae, a family currently comprising the genera Blastomyces, Emmonsia, Emmonsiellopsis, Helicocarpus, Hi ... Full text Link to item Cite

AIDS-Related Endemic Mycoses in Western Cape, South Africa, and Clinical Mimics: A Cross-Sectional Study of Adults With Advanced HIV and Recent-Onset, Widespread Skin Lesions.

Journal Article Open Forum Infect Dis · 2017 BACKGROUND: Skin lesions are common in advanced HIV infection and are sometimes caused by serious diseases like systemic mycoses (SM). AIDS-related SM endemic to Western Cape, South Africa, include emergomycosis (formerly disseminated emmonsiosis), histopl ... Full text Link to item Cite

A population's higher-risk sexual behaviour is associated with its average sexual behaviour-An ecological analysis of subpopulations in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and the United States.

Journal Article Epidemics · June 2016 BACKGROUND: Given the large variation in the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections between populations it is important to characterize how sexual vary between populations. In this paper we assess how the distribution of lifetime sexual partners var ... Full text Link to item Cite

Management and Outcomes of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Caused by Blastomycosis: A Retrospective Case Series.

Journal Article Medicine (Baltimore) · May 2016 Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is an uncommon, highly fatal, and poorly understood manifestation of blastomycosis. Optimal management remains unknown, including the roles of adjunctive corticosteroids and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (EC ... Full text Link to item Cite

Partner concurrency and HIV infection risk in South Africa.

Journal Article Int J Infect Dis · April 2016 BACKGROUND: The relationship between concurrent sexual partnerships and HIV risk is not fully understood. Evidence on the relationship between partner concurrency (one's sexual partner has another partner) and individual HIV risk is limited. In this study, ... Full text Link to item Cite

Did AIDS mortality decrease the number of lifetime sexual partners in Kenya: an ecological analysis?

Journal Article Epidemiol Infect · February 2016 We assessed if there has been a decline in the median number of reported lifetime sexual partners in Kenya following the AIDS epidemic. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to compare the median and interquartile range (IQR) of the number of lifetime sexual ... Full text Link to item Cite

Endemic Mycoses: What's New About Old Diseases?

Journal Article Curr Clin Microbiol Rep · 2016 Infections with geographically constrained dimorphic fungi cause the endemic mycoses, which include blastomycosis, coccidioidomycosis, emmonsiosis, histoplasmosis, paracoccidioidomycosis, sporotrichosis, and penicilliosis. In the last 5 years, our understa ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinical Characteristics, Diagnosis, Management, and Outcomes of Disseminated Emmonsiosis: A Retrospective Case Series.

Journal Article Clin Infect Dis · September 15, 2015 BACKGROUND: We describe the geographic distribution, clinical characteristics, and management of patients with disease caused by Emmonsia sp., a novel dimorphic fungal pathogen recently described in South Africa. METHODS: We performed a multicenter, retros ... Full text Link to item Cite

HIV Prevalence Correlates with High-Risk Sexual Behavior in Ethiopia's Regions.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2015 BACKGROUND: HIV prevalence varies between 0.9 and 6.5% in Ethiopia's eleven regions. Little has been published examining the reasons for this variation. METHODS: We evaluated the relationship between HIV prevalence by region and a range of risk factors in ... Full text Link to item Cite

Changing trends in β-hemolytic streptococcal bacteremia in Manitoba, Canada: 2007-2012.

Journal Article Int J Infect Dis · November 2014 OBJECTIVES: European surveillance studies have reported an increasing incidence of β-hemolytic group G streptococcal bacteremia, but no studies have evaluated trends in β-hemolytic streptococcal bacteremia in North America. METHODS: We reviewed bacteremic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Interferon-gamma release assays piloted as a latent tuberculous infection screening tool in Canadian federal inmates.

Journal Article Int J Tuberc Lung Dis · July 2014 BACKGROUND: Interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) may be useful in diagnosing latent tuberculous infection (LTBI) in inmates; however, published experience in these settings is limited. OBJECTIVE: To identify variables associated with IGRA positivity amo ... Full text Link to item Cite

Arterial ischemic stroke in an adolescent with presumed perinatal ischemic stroke.

Journal Article J Child Neurol · January 2012 The risk of recurrent ischemic stroke after presumed perinatal stroke and the risk factors for such recurrence are rarely reported. Here, we present an adolescent with a history of presumed perinatal stroke who presented with arterial ischemic stroke recur ... Full text Link to item Cite