Wickerhamomyces anomalous: A Rare Cause of Fungemia Causing Febrile Neutropenia in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Abstract

Candida bloodstream infection is the major cause of increased morbidity and mortality (20–49%) in hospitalized patients in both paediatric and adult age groups. Due to the increase in the number of immunocompromised patients, other important species such as Trichosporon asahii and Debaryomyces hansenii are emerging. One such organism, Wickerhamomyces anomalous, previously known as Pichia anomala (teleomorph stages of several Candida species), is increasingly being reported as a cause of fungemia in neonatal intensive care units and is now increasingly being reported in a lot of immunosuppressive conditions such as interstitial lung disease, endocarditis, enteritis, corticosteroids, and chemotherapy uptake. Though this yeast is ubiquitous in nature, systemic infections from isolated cases and sporadic outbreaks with high mortality have been reported in ICUs, which emphasize the importance to consider this fungus within the diagnostic possibilities. Here, we report a case of catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI) caused by W. anomalus in a leukemic immunosuppressed patient who was successfully treated by early detection and treatment of this emerging fungus.

Investigation of the Emerging Nosocomial Wickerhamomyces anomalus Infections at a Chinese Tertiary Teaching Hospital and a Systemic Review: Clinical Manifestations, Risk Factors, Treatment, Outcomes, and Anti-fungal Susceptibility

“…As shown in Tables 3, 4, we found 14 case reports including 15 adult patients (Milstoc and Siddiqui, 1986;Nohinek et al, 1987;Haron et al, 1988;Klein et al, 1988;Munoz et al, 1989;Salesa et al, 1991;Hirasaki et al, 1992;Neumeister et al, 1992;Goss et al, 1994;Kunova et al, 1996;Sumitomo et al, 1996;Kane et al, 2002;Chan et al, 2013;Mehta et al, 2020) and two outbreaks (Kalenic et al, 2001;Jung et al, 2018) totaling 15 adult patients with fungemia due to W. anomalus retrieved from the literatures. These adult patients (Table 3) ranged in age from 21 to 65 years, with the median being 44.7 years, which was much younger than our study (median: 57.2).…”

Fungemia by Wickerhamomyces anomalus—A Narrative Review

“…A total of 243 articles from PubMed and Scopus were screened. Finally, 36 met the present study’s inclusion criteria [ 19 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 ]. These 36 studies involved 170 patients in total.…”

Detailed microbiome analysis of sticker-stripped surface materials of acne lesions revealed acne-relatedCutibacterium acnessubtypes: a pilot study

“…2-B). Interestingly, in the other clusters, there were participants who were dominated by Rothia mucilaginosa 28 , which is a resident bacterium of the oral cavity, and Wickerhamomyces anomalus 29 , known as a pathogenic yeast.…”

“…On the other hand, regarding the fungal flora, it was divided into five major groups, consisting of clusters dominated by Malassezia restricta and Malassezia globosa , which are also suggested to be involved in acne vulgaris, and other clusters (Fig2-B). Interestingly, in the other clusters, there were participants who were dominated by Rothia mucilaginosa 28 , which is a resident bacterium of the oral cavity, and Wickerhamomyces anomalus 29 , known as a pathogenic yeast.…”