Rhytidhysteron is a saprophytic dematiaceous fungus which rarely infects humans. Though virtually all individuals are exposed, very few develop the disease. Only seven human cases are reported till date. The present case is the second case from South India.A 40-year-old immunocompetent female agricultural worker, presented with a swelling on the dorsum of the right hand. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of the swelling revealed short, thick, branched septate fungal hyphae. The isolate was moderately slow growing; grayish white colonies were observed on Sabouraud’s Dextrose Agar (SDA) slant. On further incubation, the colonies turned floccose, greyish black and the black pigment was observed on the reverse. Microscopy of lactophenol cotton blue tease mount showed thick, brown septate hyphae without any fruiting bodies. Molecular typing confirmed the isolates as Rhytidhysteron rufulum.Identification of all clinical isolates of nonsporulating fungi to genus level is necessary to identify rare fungi infecting humans.

This study reports the all four dengue serotypes' co-circulation. This is the first report from South Eastern Andhra Pradesh. Amongst four, DENV-2 was predominant followed by DENV-4. The information of predominant serotypes can guide in forecasting dengue outbreaks and improving control measures of vectors thus may be helpful in the prevention of outbreaks.

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Background: Fungal infections are gaining prominence in recent years and are becoming a cause of significant morbidity as well as mortality. Reliable data from India about the spectrum of pathogens causing fungal infection in various body systems, and particularly about the antifungal susceptibility pattern of Candida spp., which is the most common isolate worldwide is not available. Methods:We prospectively studied 48,155 clinical samples submitted for fungal work-up to the microbiology laboratory at our tertiary care teaching hospital. Standard procedures were followed for fungal identification. Candida isolates were differentiated into Candida albicans and non-albicans candida (NAC) by germ tube test. Antifungal susceptibility of Candida isolates was determined by disc diffusion technique using amphotericin B (10 µg), fluconazole (25 µg), and voriconazole (1 µg) discs.Results: A total of 555 fungal isolates were obtained of which 541 were Candida spp, while the others were filamentous fungi. Male gender and age over 50 years were found to be independent risk factors. Proportion of NAC isolates (n = 384, 69.2%) were greater compared to C. albicans (n = 157, 28.3%). Aspergillus spp. was the second most frequent isolate. Azole resistance was significantly more in NAC group as compared to C. albicans. For fluconazole, 57.5% of the NAC showed resistance compared to 24.8% seen in strains of C. albicans while the corresponding figure for voriconazole was 56.8% Vs 22.9%. Overall resistance for amphotericin B was low (8.9%). Conclusions:Our observations bring to light the spectrum of common fungal isolates and their susceptibility patterns. This information will be useful for health planners and policy makers, as early institution of appropriate antifungal treatment can be life saving. Key words: Mycoses, Antifungal susceptibility testing, CandidaJayaprada R, Nagaraja M, Sumanth Kumar GLS, Venkataramana B, Kalawat U. Common fungal isolates from routine clinical specimens -A two-year study from a tertiary care hospital in South India. J Clin Sci Res 2017;6:2-9. DOI: http:// dx

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