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Disseminating infection withScytalidium dimidiatum in a granulocytopenic child

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Abstract

A 13-year-old Moroccan boy in The Netherlands developed fever and a lesion resembling ecthyma gangrenosum on the abdomen during cytostatic drug treatment for a lymphoblastic B-cell lymphoma.Scytalidium dimidiatum was cultured from blood and the abdominal skin lesion. The patient was successfully treated with amphotericin B. The fungusScytalidium dimidiatum is a fairly common plant pathogen in tropical and subtropical countries and is known to cause dermatomycoses in humans in these areas. This case demonstrates that it is necessary to be aware that immigrants from these areas can import their own fungal flora, some members of which may cause life-threatening disease in the case of patients with immune suppression.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Microbiology, Wilhelmina University Children's Hospital, Nieuwe Gracht 137, 3512 LK, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    C. A. Benne & A. Fleer

  2. Department of General Pediatrics, Wilhelmina University Children's Hospital, Nieuwe Gracht 137, 3512 LK, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    C. Neeleman

  3. Department of Oncology and Hematology, Wilhelmina University Children's Hospital, Nieuwe Gracht 137, 3512 LK, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    M. Bruin

  4. Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures, PO Box 273, 3740 AG, Baarn, The Netherlands

    G. S. de Hoog

  5. Department of Molecular Cell Biology, University of Amsterdam, Kruislaan 318, 1098 SM, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    G. S. de Hoog

Authors
  1. C. A. Benne
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  2. C. Neeleman
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  4. G. S. de Hoog
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  5. A. Fleer
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Benne, C.A., Neeleman, C., Bruin, M. et al. Disseminating infection withScytalidium dimidiatum in a granulocytopenic child. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 12, 118–121 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01967587

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