ABSTRACT
Trichosporon, Magnusiomyces, and Geotrichum are ubiquitous fungi in nature, closely associated with plants and animals, and can be part of the human microbiota. Moreover, these fungi cause human disease when they cause deep infections with a high mortality (40%–80%), although most isolates show a low virulence and infections are supercial. The terms (1) trichosporonosis and (2) geotrichosis refer to those mycoses caused by (1) Trichosporon and (2) Geotrichum and Magnusiomyces, respectively. In this chapter, to avoid confusion, we will specify the agent causing the geotrichosis. Invasive mycoses caused by these fungi are infrequent in the general population; however, the increase in the number of immunodecient patients and use of antifungal prophylaxis have converted them into emergent opportunistic agents causing severe nosocomial infections worldwide. Moreover, these infections have also been observed in patients suffering from cancer and in critically ill patients exposed to multiple invasive medical procedures. The ability of Trichosporon, Magnusiomyces, and Geotrichum to adhere to and develop biolms on implanted devices may account for persistence and dissemination, since this ability promotes (1) escape from host immune responses and (2) resistance to antifungal drugs.1,2 In addition, the presence of glucuronoxylomannan in the cell wall of Trichosporon and the ability of these fungi to produce hydrolytic enzymes are additional virulence factors related to the progression of infections.
