Antifungal Susceptibility Profile of Clinical and Environmental Isolates of Aspergillus Species From a Tertiary Care Center in North India.

Abstract

Aspergillus species are ubiquitously found in the environment worldwide and are important causative agents for infection. Drug resistance among Aspergillus species is emerging, hencethe present study was undertaken to look for antifungal susceptibility profiles of clinical and environmental isolates of Aspergillus species. During the period from January 2018 to June 2019, a total of 102 Aspergillus isolates (40 clinical, 40 hospital, and 22 community environment) were tested for antifungal susceptibility testing for determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)/minimum effective concentration (MEC) as per Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute(CLSI) M38-A3 method for itraconazole, voriconazole, amphotericin B, and caspofungin. Out of these 102 Aspergillus isolates, A. flavus was the most common species present. Aspergillus species were found to have low MIC values to azoles such as itraconazole and voriconazole except for one clinical isolate, which showed a MIC value of 2 μg/ml to voriconazole. Two isolates were non-wild-type for amphotericin B, but all isolates were wild-type for caspofungin. Antifungal susceptibility testing among clinical Aspergillus isolates and environmental surveillance studies in view of emerging drug resistance should be undertaken at a larger scale.