Transmission of Trichosporon asahii oesophagitis by a contaminated endoscope

Two cases of oesophageal trichosporonosis due to a suspected nosocomial inf ection are reported. Both the patients were immunocompetent and had undergo ne an endoscopic examination on the same day. Six strains of Trichosporon w ere isolated: three strains from the oesophageal biopsy of the first patien t, one strain from the endoscopic forceps, one from the air in the endoscop y room, and one from the oesophageal biopsy of the second patient. The noso comial nature of the infection and the role of the endoscopic forceps in tr ansporting the micro-organism was suspected, but the morphology and physiol ogy of the isolated strains did not confirm such hypothesis. To elucidate t he nature of the infection and the genetic similarities of the strains isol ated, all strains were typed with RFLPs of the rDNA fragment and with RAPD. The results of RAPD using primer (GTG)(5) (GACA)(4), M13 core sequence, an d the 15-mer oligonucleotide GAGGGTGGXGGXTCT indicated the molecular identi ty of three strains supporting the hypothesis concerning a transport: of th e aetiological agent from the first patient to the second and that the carr ier was the forceps of the endoscopic device.