Antifungal susceptibility profile of clinical Fusarium spp. isolates identified by molecular methods

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To analyse the susceptibility pattern of a collection of Fusarium clinical isolates. METHODS: The antifungal susceptibility pattern of 67 isolates of Fusarium was analysed. Strains were identified by morphological and molecular methods by means of sequencing elongation factor alpha. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Six different species were identified. Fusarium solani was the most frequently isolated, followed by Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium proliferatum and Fusarium verticilloides. Amphotericin B was the only drug with in vitro activity (range: 0.015-32 mg/L). The rest of the antifungals tested (itraconazole, voriconazole, ravuconazole, posaconazole and terbinafine) showed very poor activity against Fusarium, confirming the multiresistant nature of this genus.