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Neonatal Candidiasis: New Insights into an Old Problem at a Unique Host-Pathogen Interface

  • Fungal Genomics and Pathogenesis (S Shoham, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Candida species are the leading cause of invasive fungal infections in premature infants. Associated with substantial morbidity and mortality, these infections represent serious and sometimes catastrophic complications in the course of hospitalization of a preterm infant in the neonatal intensive care unit. Although virulence factors of Candida and the host defense mechanisms that are important in protection from candidiasis have been the subject of intensive study, considerably less is known about the features of this disease that are specific to premature neonates. As animal models for neonatal candidiasis have been developed, efforts to understand the similarities and differences of candidiasis in the neonatal host relative to other immunocompromised patients have begun to provide insights to these questions.

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Acknowledgments

Work in the Bliss laboratory was supported by grants from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (P20GM103537 and P20GM104317) of the National Institutes of Health and by funds from the Oh Zopfi Professorship for Pediatrics and Perinatal Research from Brown University and Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island.

Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

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Conflict of Interest

Amanda B. Arsenault and Joseph M. Bliss declare no conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

All studies by the authors involving animal and/or human subjects were performed after approval by the appropriate institutional review boards. When required, written informed consent was obtained from all participants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Amanda B. Arsenault & Joseph M. Bliss

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Women & Infants Hospital, 101 Dudley St., Providence, RI, 02905, USA

    Joseph M. Bliss

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  1. Amanda B. Arsenault
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  2. Joseph M. Bliss
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Correspondence to Joseph M. Bliss.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Fungal Genomics and Pathogenesis

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Arsenault, A.B., Bliss, J.M. Neonatal Candidiasis: New Insights into an Old Problem at a Unique Host-Pathogen Interface. Curr Fungal Infect Rep 9, 246–252 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12281-015-0238-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12281-015-0238-x

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