Results of long-standing mycological analyses of biological materials originating from selected organ ontocenoses--yeast and yeast-like fungi.

Abstract

This paper reviews the results of an extensive monitoring study, spanning 20-years of observation from three medical centres in Olsztyn on the dynamics and species diversity of fungi most frequently colonizing the respiratory and digestive systems of humans. The experimental materials were swabs and specimens from the gastrointestinal tract, swabs from the oral cavity and pharynx, as well as sputum and bronchial fluid from the respiratory system. The biological material was subjected to routine mycological diagnostics, taxonomic determination and identification. In total, 41 species of yeast and yeast-like fungi were isolated, including 34 from the respiratory and 25 from the digestive system. In the last decade, a significant increase has been noticed in the counts of fungi, especially the gastrointestinal tract, reported from people. As many as 18 species were isolated from both systems--they were predominated by fungi of the genus Candida and their perfect forms. Worthy of notice are also frequent isolations of yeast (Saccharomyces spp.) and detection of an endemic species, Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, in the respiratory system, and of the sexual stages of Rhodosporidium diobovatum and Rhodosporidium kratochvilovae from the gastrointestinal tract.