Candida albicans necrotizing fasciitis following elective surgery

Natalie J Atallah; Allison K Scherer; Natalie J Alexander; Zeina Dagher; Adam L Viens; Maged Muhammed; John A Branda; Michael K Mansour

doi:10.1016/j.mmcr.2020.04.004

Candida albicans necrotizing fasciitis following elective surgery

Med Mycol Case Rep. 2020 Apr 20:28:39-41. doi: 10.1016/j.mmcr.2020.04.004. eCollection 2020 Jun.

Authors

Natalie J Atallah¹, Allison K Scherer¹, Natalie J Alexander¹, Zeina Dagher¹, Adam L Viens¹, Maged Muhammed^{2

3}, John A Branda^{4

5}, Michael K Mansour^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
² Division of Infectious Diseases, Division of Gastroenterology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
³ Department of Medicine, Adult Inpatient Medicine, Newton Wellesley Hospital, Newton, MA, USA.
⁴ Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
⁵ Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Abstract

Necrotizing fasciitis is a potentially fatal soft tissue infection that requires prompt clinical suspicion, pharmacological and surgical interventions. Bacterial pathogens, such as beta-hemolytic streptococcus and Staphylococcus aureus, are the main etiology of necrotizing fasciitis, however, rare cases caused by fungal pathogens, such as Candida albicans, have been reported following trauma. Here, we present the first case of C. albicans necrotizing fasciitis following an elective surgical procedure in an immunocompetent adult.

Keywords: Candida; Immunocompromised; Necrotizing fasciitis.

Publication types

Case Reports

Grants and funding

R01 AI132638/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States