Epidemiology of Clinical Sporotrichosis in the Americas in the Last Ten Years

Abstract

Background: Sporotrichosis is a fungal infection caused by species of the Sporothrix genus. Presently, the prevalence of sporotrichosis in the Americas is unknown, so this study aims to analyze the cases reported in the past 10 years. Methods: An advanced search was conducted from 2012 to 2022 in English and Spanish in PUBMED, SciELO, and Cochrane, with the terms: “sporotrichosis”, “lymphocutaneous sporotrichosis”, “fixed sporotrichosis”, “mycosis”, “Sporothrix spp.”, “Sporothrix complex”, “S. schenckii sensu stricto”, “S. schenckii sensu lato”, “S. globose”, “S. brasiliensis”, “S. luriei”. Sporotrichosis is a fungal infection caused by species of the Sporothrix genus associated with “pathogenicity” or “epidemiology”. Results: A total of 124 articles were found in the Americas, corresponding to 12,568 patients. Of these, 87.38% of cases were reported in South America, 11.62% in North America, and 1.00% in Central America and the Caribbean. Brazil, Peru, and Mexico had the highest number of cases. The most prevalent etiological agents were S. schenckii complex/Sporothrix spp. (52.91%), S. schenckii (42.38%), others (4.68%), and Not Determined (ND) (0.03%). The most frequent form of the disease was lymphocutaneous infection; however, the infection type was not determined in 5639 cases. Among the diagnostic methods, culture was the most used. Conclusions: There is a high occurrence of cases reported in the literature. South America is the region with the highest number of reports because of its environment (climate, inhalation of spores, etc.), zoonotic transmission (scratches and sneezes from contaminated animals), and possible traumatic inoculation due to outdoor activities (agriculture, gardening, and related occupations). Molecular diagnosis has not been sufficiently developed due to its high cost.

Current Progress on Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Sporotrichosis and Their Future Trends

“…In Latin America, sporotrichosis emerges as the most common implantation mycosis [ 89 , 90 ], with areas of high endemicity in Brazil [ 91 ], Colombia [ 92 ], Peru [ 93 , 94 ], and Venezuela [ 95 ]. However, we noticed significant differences that reflect on the species transmitted and on the route of transmission of the disease.…”

Trends in Molecular Diagnostics and Genotyping Tools Applied for Emerging Sporothrix Species

“…Judging from the pieces of information above, it is evident that taxonomic developments have promoted important advances in epidemiological scenarios, parasite–host interactions, sensitivity to antifungal agents, and the biology of these pathogens. Therefore, it is imperative to recognize Sporothrix species in the clinical scenario [ 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ]. The diagnosis of sporotrichosis down to genus or species level can bring benefits to treatment and thus impact the clinical outcome of patients, and in the case of the felines, avoid the dispersion of the fungus into the feline and human populations [ 32 , 64 ].…”

Special Issue “Sporothrix and Sporotrichosis 2.0”

“…Therefore, Hernández-Castro et al performed a bibliographic search for papers published on the subject of Sporothrix or sporotrichosis deposited in different bibliographic repositories and published in the last 10 years [ 10 ]. They found a total of 124 articles that grouped 12,568 patients, with distribution mainly in South America (87.38%), followed by North America (11.62%), and Central America and the Caribbean (1.00%) [ 10 ]. Brazil, Peru, and Mexico were the leading countries in terms of case numbers [ 10 ], correlating with already known hyperepidemic areas [ 1 ].…”

“…They found a total of 124 articles that grouped 12,568 patients, with distribution mainly in South America (87.38%), followed by North America (11.62%), and Central America and the Caribbean (1.00%) [ 10 ]. Brazil, Peru, and Mexico were the leading countries in terms of case numbers [ 10 ], correlating with already known hyperepidemic areas [ 1 ]. Lymphocutaneous infection was the most frequent clinical form, and traditional culture was the main diagnosis method [ 10 ].…”

“…Despite the fact that we know epidemic areas of sporotrichosis in the Americas, the prevalence of the disease in the whole continent is unknown. Therefore, Hernández-Castro et al performed a bibliographic search for papers published on the subject of Sporothrix or sporotrichosis deposited in different bibliographic repositories and published in the last 10 years [ 10 ]. They found a total of 124 articles that grouped 12,568 patients, with distribution mainly in South America (87.38%), followed by North America (11.62%), and Central America and the Caribbean (1.00%) [ 10 ].…”