Aspergillus: Rising frequency of clinical isolation and continued susceptibility to antifungal agents, 1994-1999

We investigated the frequency of clinical isolation and the in vitro susceptibility to antifungal agents of Aspergillus species obtained from patients at the Detroit Medical Center from January 1994 to December 1999. During this period, 593 clinical isolates of Aspergillus species [406 A. fumigatus, 68%; 82 A. niger, 14%; 42 A. flavus, 7%; 63 Aspergillus spp., 11%] were recovered from hospitalized patients. From January 1996 to December 1999, approximately 2.5-4.5 fold yearly increase of the number of aspergillus isolates occurred compared to that of 1994. Conidial suspensions from clinical isolates were prepared and their in vitro susceptibility to amphotericin B and three azoles were determined. All four agents examined were extremely active. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC₉0) (μg/mL) of amphotericin B, itraconazole, voriconazole and posaconazole for A. fumigatus (n = 406) were 0.5, 1.0, 0.5 and 0.25. Similar values were noted for non-A. fumigatus isolates. A year-to-year comparison of the MIC₉₀ of the four agents for A. fumigatus and non-A. fumigatus isolates over the 6-year study period showed no significant differences. Our study showed a steady increase in the frequency of clinical isolation of Aspergillus species; and the organism has remained susceptible to amphotericin B/triazoles without any change in susceptibility levels during the 6-year study period.