Author:
SK Kutmutia1*, SC Chotirmal2, MF Fischer3, SCS Schuster1
Author address:
1Singapore Centre of Life Sciences and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
2Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
3Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
Full conference title:
10th Advances Against Aspergillosis and Mucormycosis
Abstract:
Purpose:
Despite mucormycosis being increasingly recognized as an important, invasive, and severe complication related to COVID-19 (CAM), currently, no globally standardized datasets are available for evaluating the spatio-temporal determinants of human exposure to this species-rich and little-studied group of fungi. Understanding environmental risks of fungal exposure, if any, remains limited. In order to understand whether links exist between environmental exposures to mucor and mucormycosis, we characterize the global distributions of Mucoromycota across continents.
Methods:
Employing our synoptic analysis of 8,937 samples (7,475 air and 1,462 dust) from 30 countries and 6 continents, we demonstrate the relative abundance and geospatial stratification of Mucorales. A competitive factor analysis was performed using environmental, clinical and socioeconomic metadata from each sampling location to understand the complex relationship seen between environmental burden of Mucorales to epidemiological burden of mucormycosis. In addition, we also successfully captured and isolated 5 new strains of airborne Mucorales.
Results:
Our meta-analysis reveal that relative abundance of Mucorales in air to be poor predictors for the growing occurrence of clinical mucormycosis. There is a ubiquitous presence of Mucoromycota in our global geospatial survey, with individual samples illustrating high variation in species composition and burden, even when taken in close proximity. In contrast, the temporal distribution of Mucoromycota follows precise species-specific diel patterns and adheres to a strong seasonal influence in temperate climates.
Conclusion:
We can exclude the environmental burden of Mucorales as a key contributor to emergence cases of CAM, suggesting host genetics, co-morbidities (diabetes), high steroid use and yet undescribed factors to be of greater explanatory power. We conclude that the identification of global hotspots and avoidance of airborne Mucoromycota is not a viable public health intervention aimed at controlling the ongoing Mucormycosis ‘epidemic within the pandemic’.
Abstract Number: 49
Conference Year: 2022
Link to conference website: https://aaam2022.org/
URL Conference abstract: