Aspergillus niger group and its species in otomycosis

DOUTHAT L; MANGIATERRA M; GIUSIANO G

Buenos Aires

Congreso; 14th. Congress of the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology.; 2000

International Society for Human and Animal Mycology.

In tropical and subtropical areas otomycosis is produced predomi-nantely by Aspergillus niger. A. niger group includes 6 species, the more frequent are A. niger var niger, A. carbonarius, A. japonicus var japonicus and A. japonicus var aculeatus which are differenciated by slender morphological and fisiological features. With the aim of assessing incidence of A. niger group species in otitis cases, 271 patiens were studied. Of them, 188 (68%) were bacterial infections, 29 (10%) negatives, 40 (15%) mycotic and 21 (7%) mixed infections. Of these, 31 (52%) belonged to A. niger. We identified the species with All-Musallam (1980) and Piontelli (1994) keys. In order to correlate environmental A. niger group species, with otomycosis producing agents, we studied 20 air samples from squares and parks. Species more frequently isolated from otomycosis were the same from air samples. No previous references could be found about A niger Group species neither from otomycosis nor from environment. Further examination with regard to the pathogenic role of this species in otomycosis is required.