International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Epidemiology and Outcome of Invasive Fungal Disease in Children

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is dedicated to the topic captured in its title, “Epidemiology and Outcomes of Invasive Fungal Disease (IFD) in Children”.

Invasive fungal infections, that result in IFD, are a heterogeneous group of yeast and mold infections which is still associated with significant morbidity and death in immunocompromised children. They are particularly relevant to children affected with hematologic malignancies, immunodeficiencies, hematopoietic stem cell transplant as well as solid organ transplant recipients, premature neonates, and debilitated children in pediatric intensive care units. Although considerable progress has recently been made in the prevention, diagnosis, and management of pediatric IFD, it continues to remain a challenge. Furthermore, the growing number of immunocompromised children at risk of IFD results in increased financial and organizational burden to the health care system.

The early detection of IFD is critical because therapeutic outcome strongly depends on the prompt initiation of appropriate interventions. Therefore, novel biomarkers measured in samples obtained noninvasively from children are highly desired. Furthermore, the development around the more beneficial imaging of mycotic lesions is also needed. The current antifungal prophylaxis, empiric, pre-emptive, and targeted therapy options for children are often supported by data from adults although children differ compared with them when it comes to IFD.

Research and review articles, large case series, and meta-analyses related to incidence, prevalence, and outcome of fungal infections in children treated for any reason are invited. Papers on the impact of prophylaxis, diagnostics, and treatment on outcomes are welcome as well.

Best regards,

Prof. Dr. Radosław Chaber
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

invasive fungal disease
children
yeasts
molds
fungal diagnostics
antifungal treatment

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers

Order results

Result details

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

11 pages, 1920 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Epidemiology of Fungal Colonization in Children Treated at the Department of Oncology and Hematology: Single-Center Experience

by Joanna Klepacka, Zuzanna Zakrzewska, Małgorzata Czogała, Magdalena Wojtaszek-Główka, Emil Krzysztofik, Wojciech Czogała and Szymon Skoczeń

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(4), 2485; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042485 - 21 Feb 2022

Viewed by 1820

Abstract

Oncological patients are especially predisposed to fungal infections due to multiple risk factors and immunocompromising treatment. Epidemiological research regarding pediatric oncologic patients is still insufficient, and existing data are difficult to generalize on different populations. Therefore, we aimed to analyze fungal infections and fungal epidemiology in the Department of Oncology and Hematology of the University Children’s Hospital in Krakow with help from the Clinical Microbiology Department. During the chosen period of 2005 and 2015–2020, 2342 tests were performed in our ward on 847 patients. Analyzed samples were divided into five source groups. The amount of patients with positive test results was 62.5%. The year with the highest detection level was 2005. The most frequent pathogen was Candida albicans, with a significant decrease in tendency. An increase in non-albicans species was observed. Candida parapsilosis was not frequently observed compared to similar studies. We noticed an increase in positive results from the urinary tract material. Our results confirmed that fungal infections are still an issue, and they may indicate the efficacy of prophylaxis. The majority of our results are consistent with the literature, yet we managed to emphasize data unique to our patients’ population. Our findings are helpful in clinical work and for further studies in our center. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Epidemiology and Outcome of Invasive Fungal Disease in Children)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 1769 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fungal Infection Testing in Pediatric Intensive Care Units—A Single Center Experience

by Joanna Klepacka, Zuzanna Zakrzewska, Małgorzata Czogała, Magdalena Wojtaszek-Główka, Emil Krzysztofik, Wojciech Czogała and Szymon Skoczeń

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(3), 1716; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031716 - 02 Feb 2022

Viewed by 1752

Abstract

Mycoses are diseases caused by fungi that involve different parts of the body and can generate dangerous treatment complications. This study aims to analyze fungal infection epidemiology in intensive care units (Pediatric and Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Units—PCICU) and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in one large pediatric center in the period 2015–2020 compared with 2005. The year 2005 was randomly selected as a historical time reference to notice possible changes. In 2005 and 2015–2020, 23,334 mycological tests were performed in intensive care units. A total of 4628 tests (19.8%) were performed in the intensive care units. Microbiological diagnostics involved mycological and serological testing. Of the 458 children hospitalized in the NICU, positive results in the mycological tests in the studied years were found in 21–27% of the children and out of 1056 PCICU patients, positive results were noticed in 18–29%. In both departments, the main detected pathogen was Candida albicans which is comparable with data published in other centers. Our experience indicates that blood cultures as well as the detection of antifungal antibodies do not add important information to mycological diagnostics. For the years of observation, only a few positive results were detected, even in patients with invasive fungal diseases. To our knowledge, this is one of a few similar studies over recent years and it provides contemporary reports of mycoses in pediatric ICU patients. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Epidemiology and Outcome of Invasive Fungal Disease in Children)

► Show Figures

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Epidemiology and Outcome of Invasive Fungal Disease in Children

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (2 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI