Isolation of clinically relevant fungal species from solid waste and environment of dental health services

Abstract

Aims: This study was undertaken to detect, identify and determine antifungal susceptibility of yeast strains isolated from dental solid waste and to evaluate airborne fungi in the Brazilian dental health care environment and in the waste storage room. Methods and Results: A group of 17 yeast strains were identified by macroscopic and microscopic characteristics, API 20C Aux system and Multiplex PCR. All 104 airborne fungal colonies were identified by macroscopic and microscopic morphology. The CLSI broth microdilution method was utilized as the susceptibility test. Candida parapsilosis was the prevailing yeast species recovered from waste, followed by Rhodotorula glutinis. Three strains of Candida guilliermondii presented minimal inhibitory concentration values considered to be susceptible dose dependent (2 μg ml−1) to voriconazole. Of all airborne fungal species, 69% were recovered from the waste storage room and 31% were recovered from the clinical/surgical environment. Most of them were identified as Cladosporium spp. Conclusions: These findings reinforce the potential risk of waste handling and point out the need for safe management to minimize the spread of these agents to the environment. Filamentous fungi isolation in almost all sampled environments indicates that a periodic monitoring of airborne microbiota in the dental health care service environment is required. Significance and Impact of the Study: The survival of yeast strains for 48 h suggests that dental waste should be carefully controlled and monitored.

Investigating cross‐contamination by yeast strains from dental solid waste to waste‐handling workers by DNA sequencing

“…There are some studies focusing on hospital and dental waste, although very few discuss specific aspects such as their potential biological risks, specially their fungi content. Previous results of our group (Vieira et al., , ) and other studies (Madsen, Alwan, Ørberg, Uhrbrand, & Jørgensen, ) proved the presence of different species of viable bacteria and also of some yeast inside biomedical waste. To widen the discussion on the possible risks to waste workers, this study proposed to investigate fungal strains recovered from dental waste, comparing with those samples isolated from waste workers' tissues (hands and nasal mucosa) and their work wear.…”

“…All of these species were previously recovered from dental solid waste by Vieira et al. () except for C. victoriae and O. polymorpha . Górny and Dutkiewicz () reported that yeast are frequently isolated from aerosols in indoor environments including health care settings.…”

Supercritical Carbon Dioxide as Non-Thermal Alternative Technology for Safe Handling of Clinical Wastes

“…These wastes may be exposed to contamination during the storage period that precedes the final treatment. Vieira et al (2010) evaluated airborne fungi in the Brazilian dental healthcare environment and in the waste storage room. A total of 104 fungal isolates were recovered, 69 % from the waste storage room and 31 % from the clinical/surgical environment.…”

Inactivation of Aspergillus Spores in Clinical Wastes by Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

“…The survival of pathogens in the clinical wastes and environment has been reported by many investigators in the literature [10][11][12]. Therefore, several technologies including autoclave, irradiation, microwave and chemical disinfection have investigated for the inactivation of these pathogens in clinical wastes [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”