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The common fungus Candida albicans does not typically result in serious harm. People with compromised immune systems or implanted medical devices, however, are at greater risk for serious systemic fungal infections, which can be fatal. |
Researchers at UMass Medical School and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) are investigating how babies become infected with the common fungus Candida albicans (C. albicans) that is known to live on almost every human being. The pathogen causes common yeast infections like thrush and vaginitis in millions of people around the world each year. While it may cause great discomfort, a superficial C. albicans infection does not typically result in serious harm. People with compromised immune systems or implanted medical devices, however, are at greater risk for serious systemic fungal infections, which can be fatal.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has placed C. albicans on a watch list of infectious agents rapidly becoming resistant to antibiotics. There are a number of questions about how C. albicans spreads and becomes drug-resistant, especially in babies in neonatal intensive care units (NICU), a population at high-risk for infection.
In a new study, a team led by Jennifer Rylander, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at UMMS, and Reeta Rao, PhD, associate professor of biology and biotechnology at WPI, are studying whether candida samples from babies are clonally related to samples from their mothers. Researchers said the data will help determine the source of the fungal infection.
“Through the collaboration, once an infant at the UMass Memorial Medical Center NICU is identified as having a suspected candida infection, we collect a small sample from both the baby and the mom, using a cotton swab,” Dr. Rylander said. “If the baby’s samples are different than the mom’s, it tells us that the infection is likely environmental.”
Researchers are also interested in better understanding why C. albicans are developing resistance. After the infants are treated, Rylander acquires another sample from the baby.
“The population dynamics and how their genomes have changed (specifically that of C. albicans) will inform us about drug resistance and better infection management,” Dr. Rao explained. “Are there pre-existing mutations in the candida population that predestined them to become resistant to these drugs?”
With assistance from the Broad Institute Genomic Center for Infectious Diseases at MIT and Harvard, the genomic sequencing phase of the research will study the population dynamics of candida during mother-to-offspring transmission and genetic variation associated with the drug resistance. The outcomes of the study could lead to clinical strategies and treatment options for candida infections.
The study is funded, in part, by an NIH grant to WPI.
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