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A Spotlight on Sporothrix and Sporotrichosis

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Abstract

Sporothrix (order Ophiostomatales) comprises a genus with 53 species, of which S. brasiliensis, S. schenckii, S. globosa, and S. luriei cause skin infections in humans and other mammals. Remarkably, closely related Sporothrix can follow different strategies in epidemics. For example, during the cat-transmitted sporotrichosis, there is an increased prevalence of the highly virulent S. brasiliensis in South America, whereas S. schenckii and S. globosa are generally associated with a sapronotic route worldwide. Therefore, species-specific types of transmission may require distinct public health strategies to mitigate the advance of sporotrichosis, including early diagnosis, isolation of new animal cases, administration of adequate antifungal therapy, and population education on the main aspects of the disease. Here, we shed light on the system Sporothrix-sporotrichosis covering hot topics in the epidemiology and diagnosis of this important neglected disease.

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Acknowledgements

AMR acknowledges the financial support of the São Paulo State Research Foundation (FAPESP 2017/27265-5) and CNPq (433276/2018-5). AMR is a recipient of a productivity fellowship from CNPq (304902/2020-9). These agencies had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish or prepare the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Anderson Messias Rodrigues.

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Ferry Hagen is Associate Editor for the journal Mycopathologia.

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Rodrigues, A.M., Hagen, F. & de Camargo, Z.P. A Spotlight on Sporothrix and Sporotrichosis. Mycopathologia 187, 407–411 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-022-00642-9

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