An outbreak of disseminated aspergillosis associated with an intensive care unit

Typing tools for the investigation of epidemic fungal infection

The epidemiology of bacterial infection is investigated by the use of identification procedures at a sub-species level by such techniques as serotyping, phage typing, various antigen recognition tests, plasmid profiling and DNA probes. Fungal epidemiology has tended to lag behind in the use of this technology, particularly with the filamentous fungi, though several techniques have been developed for yeasts and especially forCandida albicans. This review will briefly describe the application of these methods to outbreaks ofC. albicansinfection, describe the limited methods available for the investigation of filamentous fungal infection and indicate the necessity for increased research in this area.