Insect Bite-Associated Invasive Fungal Infections

Panayiotis D Kontoyiannis; Gerry L Koons; Rachel S Hicklen; Antonios G Mikos; Dimitrios P Kontoyiannis

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofz385

Insect Bite-Associated Invasive Fungal Infections

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2019 Oct 9;6(10):ofz385. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofz385. eCollection 2019 Oct.

Authors

Panayiotis D Kontoyiannis^{1

2}, Gerry L Koons^{2

3}, Rachel S Hicklen⁴, Antonios G Mikos², Dimitrios P Kontoyiannis⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Rice University, Houston, Texas.
² Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas.
³ Medical Scientist Training Program, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
⁴ Research Medical Library, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
⁵ Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.

Abstract

Insect bites are rarely reported to result in myocutaneous mycoses. We reviewed the literature and report 22 cases. Molds were the most common pathogens (15), especially Mucorales (9). Infections were typically misdiagnosed, and 68% had necrotizing features, often requiring amputation or extensive surgery. Both immunocompetent and immunosuppressed patients were affected.

Keywords: cutaneous infections; insects; molds; mucormycosis; yeast.