Exposure assessment to azole resistant mycobiota: a demand in high load occupational environments

• Main Author: Viegas, Carla
• Publication Date: 2018
• Other Authors: Zegre, Miguel, Caetano, Liliana Aranha, Viegas, Susana
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Download full: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/9041
• topic: Occupational health; Occupational exposure; Azole-resistance; Mycobiota; Projeto IPL/2016/W2E_ESTeSL; Projeto IPL/2018/AquaInvest_ESTeSL; Projeto 005DDB/12

The emergence of microbial drug resistance is a well-known threat to public health. However, although bacterial resistance to antibiotics is widely described, scientific knowledge is scarce about fungal drug resistance. Driven by this necessity several occupational environments were assessed and mycobiota and azole-resistant fungal species distribution was characterized aiming to suggest a refined protocol to tackle this public and occupational health menace. Swine, bakeries, and waste industry were assessed, and shortly data from aquaculture and dairies will be also available. Passive methods for sampling, besides active ones, were chosen in order to collect contamination from a longer period and specific environmental samples were obtained. The prevalence of azole resistance was determined through azole-supplemented media by seeding 150 µL of the wash suspension on Saboraud agar supplemented with 4 mg/L itraconazole, 1 mg/L voriconazole, or 0.5 mg/L posaconazole. Azole-resistant species were isolated in 40 out of 91 (44%); Aspergillus sp. and Mucorales order were identified in azole-supplemented media being non-susceptible to 1 mg/L voriconazole and non-susceptible to 4 mg/L itraconazole; Aspergillus section Nigri was isolated in three different azole-supplemented media. Considering the obtained results and the sampling strategy followed a protocol to ensure, besides mycobiota, the azole-resistant mycobiota exposure assessment, in high load occupational environments, will be suggested aiming to overcome the information scarcity related with this occupational risk factor.