Diarrheal disease is the second most common cause of death in children younger than 5 years worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In the United States, viruses are the major cause of acute gastroenteritis in children; norovirus, rotavirus,…
Parasitic infections are an uncommon but potentially important cause of morbidity and mortality in children undergoing solid organ transplantation (SOT). Although few data have been published relating to parasitic infections in children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) or being…
Epidemiology and risk factors Pneumocystis jirovecii (formerly Pneumocystis carinii ) is an infrequent though potentially deadly cause of fungal pneumonia ( P. jirovecii pneumonia [PJP]) in immunocompromised patients. P. jirovecii is a ubiquitous unicellular organism found around the world with…
Nocardia Epidemiology and risk factors Nocardia species are a heterogeneous group of ubiquitous aerobic, gram-positive filamentous organisms that reside in soil and decaying organic matter and are associated with an array of infections in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised hosts. First…
Epidemiology and risk factors Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite in the phylum Apicomplexa. It infects humans and almost all warm-blooded animals, including mammals and birds. Transmission of T. gondii is linked to its biological life cycle and occurs most…
Histoplasmosis, blastomycosis, and coccidioidomycosis are the most common endemic mycoses in North America. Their geographic distribution encompasses close to two-thirds of the United States and parts of Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, and Africa. Histoplasma capsulatum , Blastomyces dermatitidis…
The vast majority of invasive yeast infections in organ transplant recipients and patients with malignancy are caused by Candida species. However, a variety of other yeasts are important opportunistic pathogens for these patients and are reviewed in this chapter. This…
The Candida genus represents a group of more than 200 species present in both human flora and the environment. Of these, approximately 20 have been implicated in human disease. Typically, the pathogens from this genus are divided into C. albicans…
Although invasive aspergillosis is the most common invasive mold disease (IMD), mucormycosis and other non- Aspergillus opportunistic mold infections are increasingly associated with significant morbidity and mortality among highly immunocompromised patients. Early clinical suspicion is critically important to accurately distinguish,…
Aspergillus is a ubiquitous organism with an ecological niche in the soil. Most disease is primarily caused by A. fumigatus , A. flavus , A. niger , A. terreus , and A. nidulans, and classification of the genus has been…