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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Infectious Agents and Disease
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1572747
This article is part of the Research Topic Outbreak Investigations of Nosocomial Infections View all 14 articles
Emerging Pathogens: The Underestimated Risk of Kodamaea ohmeri Infection in Hospitals Runing title: Kodamaea ohmeri Infection Risk in Hospitals
Provisionally accepted- 1 Nanning Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Nanning, China
- 2 Guangxi Academy of Sciences, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Region, China
- 3 Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Region, China
- 4 First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Region, China
- 5 Guangxi Key Laboratory of Mycosis Research and Prevention, Nanning, China
Introduction Kodamaea ohmeri is a rare but significant emerging human pathogen, particularly in neonates, with high mortality rates. While most K. ohmeri infections are sporadic, they can be underestimated during hospital outbreaks owing to challenges with traditional identification methods. We conducted a retrospective study to determine the diagnostic accuracy of detecting K. ohmeri in candidemia.Methods: Six non-duplicated isolates (initially misidentified as Candida dubliniensis) were collected from four patients in a single department over 1 month. Clinical and whole-genome sequencing data of the outbreak strains were evaluated to identify possible outbreaks.Results: All patients presented atypical features at diagnosis, and isolates had a low minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for amphotericin B, 5-fluorocytosine, and echinocandins, except for fluconazole with a high MIC. Notably, Patient 4 had a high MIC for triazoles. The isolates were grouped into three clades based on core genome single-nucleotide polymorphisms and single-copy orthologous genes. Clade 1 contained isolates from Patients 1 and 2, suggesting a common infection source. Conclusion: This study underscores the need for improved awareness of K. ohmeri infections, which, although rare, involve emerging fluconazole-resistant strains. Kodamaea ohmeri should be considered a potential nosocomial pathogen capable of causing outbreaks; overlooking these emerging human pathogens may have serious consequences.
Keywords: Kodamaea ohmeri, outbreak, Bloodstream infection, neonates, Whole-genome sequencing, Candidemia, antifungal susceptibility, laboratory diagnostics
Received: 07 Feb 2025; Accepted: 31 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Yu, Liang, Zheng and Cao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Shuang-Jie Wang, Nanning Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Nanning, China
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