Isolation of Cryptococcus magnus and Cryptococcus chernovii from nasal cavities of pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Abstract

We report the isolation of Cryptococcus magnus and Cryptococcus chernovii in cultures inoculated with nasal specimens of pediatric cancer patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The phenotypic characteristics of the isolates are described and their identity confirmed by sequencing of rDNA. Both species were resistant to caspofungin, anidulafungin, 5-flucytosine and itraconazole, but susceptible to amphotericin B, posaconazole and voriconazole. To the best of our knowledge, the isolation of these two species from nasal cavities has not been reported previously.

Keywords:

• Cryptococcus magnus
• Cryptococcus chernovii
• nasal culture
• cancer patients
• isolation

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Leena Joseph and Rachel Chandy for excellent technical assistance. The study was supported by KFAS grant No. 2005-130-205.

Ethical approval

The study was approved by the Ethical Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University and the Ministry of Health, Kuwait.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

This paper was first published online on Early Online on 29 October 2010.