Malassezia pachydermatis Carriage in Dog Owners

摘要

Yeasts of the genus Malassezia serve as both com-mensal microorganisms and pathogens on the skin ofhumans and domestic animals. Although rare, cases of life-threatening fungemia in people have been attributed toMalassezia pachydermatis, for which dogs are a naturalhost. Zoonotic transfer has been documented from dogs toimmunocompromised patients by healthcare workers whoown dogs. We investigated the role of pet dogs as risk fac-tors for mechanical carriage of M. pachydermatis on humanhands. Dogs and their owners were sampled as pairs, byfungal culture and nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR).Although fungal culture was not a reliable means by whichto detect carriage of the yeast on human hands, PCR iden-tified M. pachydermatis on most (≈93) human participants.Human carriage of ubiquitous opportunistic pathogens suchas M. pachydermatis underscores the importance of goodhand hygiene by healthcare professionals