The European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, the European Confederation of Medical Mycology and the European Respiratory Society Joint Clinical Guidelines focus on diagnosis and management of aspergillosis. Of the numerous recommendations, a few are summarized here. Chest computed tomography as well as bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in patients with suspicion of pulmonary invasive aspergillosis (IA) are strongly recommended. For diagnosis, direct microscopy, preferably using optical brighteners, histopathology and culture are strongly recommended. Serum and BAL galactomannan measures are recommended as markers for the diagnosis of IA. PCR should be considered in conjunction with other diagnostic tests. Pathogen identification to species complex level is strongly recommended for all clinically relevant Aspergillus isolates; antifungal susceptibility testing should be performed in patients with invasive disease in regions with resistance found in contemporary surveillance programmes. Isavuconazole and voriconazole are the preferred agents for first-line treatment of pulmonary IA, whereas liposomal amphotericin B is moderately supported. Combinations of antifungals as primary treatment options are not recommended. Therapeutic drug monitoring is strongly recommended for patients receiving posaconazole suspension or any form of voriconazole for IA treatment, and in refractory disease, where a personalized approach considering reversal of predisposing factors, switching drug class and surgical intervention is also strongly recommended. Primary prophylaxis with posaconazole is strongly recommended in patients with acute myelogenous leukaemia or myelodysplastic syndrome receiving induction chemotherapy. Secondary prophylaxis is strongly recommended in high-risk patients. We strongly recommend treatment duration based on clinical improvement, degree of immunosuppression and response on imaging.

In order to update the epidemiological and mycological profile of candidaemia in Europe, the European Confederation of Medical Mycology conducted a prospective, sequential, hospital population-based study from September 1997 to December 1999. A total of 2,089 cases were documented by 106 institutions in seven European countries. Rates of candidaemia ranging from 0.20 to 0.38 per 1,000 admissions were reported. Candida albicans was identified in 56% of cases. Non-albicans Candida species were most frequently isolated from patients with haematological malignancies (65%). With increasing age, an increasing incidence of Candida glabrata was seen. The 30-day mortality rate was 37.9%. The survey results underline the burden of candidaemia in a wide range of patient populations, confirm the importance of non- albicans species, and provide baseline data for future surveillance studies at a European level.

The European Conference on Infections in Leukaemia (ECIL) updated its guidelines on antifungal prophylaxis for adults using the grading system of IDSA. The guidelines were extended to provide recommendations for other haematological diseases besides AML and recipients of an allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Posaconazole remains the drug of choice when the incidence of invasive mould diseases exceeds 8%. For patients undergoing remission-induction chemotherapy for AML and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), fluconazole can still offer an alternative provided it forms part of an integrated care strategy that includes screening with biomarkers and imaging. Similarly, aerosolized liposomal amphotericin B combined with fluconazole can be considered for patients at high risk of invasive mould diseases but other formulations of the polyene are discouraged. Fluconazole is still recommended as primary prophylaxis for patients at low risk of invasive mould diseases during the pre-engraftment phase of allogeneic HSCT whereas only a moderate recommendation could be made for itraconazole, posaconazole and voriconazole for patients at high risk. Posaconazole is strongly recommended for preventing invasive mould disease post-engraftment but only when graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) was accompanied by other risk factors such as its severity, use of an alternative donor or when unresponsive to standard corticosteroid therapy. The need for primary prophylaxis for other patient groups was less clear and should be defined by the estimated risk of invasive fungal disease (IFD).

To investigate azole resistance in clinical Aspergillus isolates, we conducted prospective multicenter international surveillance. A total of 3,788 Aspergillus isolates were screened in 22 centers from 19 countries. Azole-resistant A. fumigatus was more frequently found (3.2% prevalence) than previously acknowledged, causing resistant invasive and noninvasive aspergillosis and severely compromising clinical use of azoles.

13The identification of fungal species and determination of their significance in the clinical laboratory are complex practices that help establish or exclude a fungal cause of disease. In the past, the clinical mycologist utilized a limited array of phenotypic measurements for categorizing isolates to the species level. This scenario is shifting in favor of molecular identification strategies largely due to a combination of several factors: (i) the changing landscape of epidemiology of medically important fungi, in which novel organisms never before implicated in human infection are being reported from clinical samples (10, 41); (ii) reports of species-specific differences in antifungal susceptibilities of these newly recognized fungi (4, 10, 41); (iii) numerous studies demonstrating that morphology alone may not be a sufficiently objective method for species determination (7,8,10,23,41); and (iv) a growing scarcity of bench scientists and microbiologists trained in traditional mycology. With the increasing incidence of fungal infections and reports of invasive fungal infections in nontraditional populations, such as patients with critical illnesses, the onus is on the clinical microbiologist/mycologist to return a timely and accurate identification. Molecular methods are rapid with a turnaround time of about 24 h from the time of DNA extraction, yield results that are objective with data portable between labs, and could be more economical in the long run.Few topics are more controversial or evoke such a passionate response as the term "species" to a mycologist. Molecular studies have demonstrated that a strategy where multiple genes (or portions thereof) are sequenced and the resultant data are analyzed by phylogenetic methods is a robust strategy for fungal species recognition. This concept, known as phylogenetic species recognition (PSR) (40), has been used successfully to define species in the genera Fusarium and Aspergillus (8,23,29,31,32). The advent of PSR has greatly clarified the taxonomy of these genera and as such is a powerful tool for fungal species delimitation. However, this methodology is expensive and requires phylogenetic expertise, which may be limiting factors in clinical microbiology laboratories. In reality, once a species has been delimited by PSR using several robust loci, sequence diversity within the species is known, and on the basis of this knowledge, comparative sequence analyses from a single locus can be used for rapid species identification. "Cutoff scores," which are dependent on genetic diversity within and between sibling species, can then be provided.Thus, it is important to clarify that our intent in this editorial is to address the practice of species "identification" as applied to a clinical setting and not species "classification" necessary for taxonomic categorization. Although the two terms can be overlapping, the purpose of an "identification" method in a clinical microbiology laboratory is the ability to provide a specific name or epithet to an organism rapidly and wi...

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The quality of research in hospital epidemiology (infection control) must be improved to be robust enough to influence policy and practice. In order to raise the standards of research and publication, a CONSORT equivalent for these largely quasi-experimental studies has been prepared by the authors of two relevant systematic reviews, following consultation with learned societies, editors of journals and researchers. It consists of a 22 item checklist, and a summary table. The emphasis is on transparency to improve the quality of reporting and on the use of appropriate statistical techniques. The statement has been endorsed by a number of professional special interest groups and societies. Like CONSORT, ORION should be considered a 'work in progress', which requires ongoing dialogue for successful promotion and dissemination. The statement is therefore offered for further public discussion. Journals and research councils are strongly recommended to incorporate it into their submission and reviewing processes. Feedback to the authors is encouraged and the statement will be revised in 2 years.