Species of Scedosporium and Lomentospora are considered as emerging opportunists, affecting immunosuppressed and otherwise debilitated patients, although classically they are known from causing trauma-associated infections in healthy individuals. Clinical manifestations range from local infection to pulmonary colonization and severe invasive disease, in which mortality rates may be over 80%. These unacceptably high rates are due to the clinical status of patients, diagnostic difficulties, and to intrinsic antifungal resistance of these fungi. In consequence, several consortia have been founded to increase research efforts on these orphan fungi. The current review presents recent findings and summarizes the most relevant points, including the Scedosporium/Lomentospora taxonomy, environmental distribution, epidemiology, pathology, virulence factors, immunology, diagnostic methods, and therapeutic strategies.

Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services ICPMR Westmead Hospital The University of Sydney New South Wales Australia

Cystic Fibrosis Centre Berlin Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Germany

Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Translational Science University of Tennessee Health Science Center Memphis TN USA

Division of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology Medical University of Innsbruck Innsbruck Austria

Fungal and Bacterial Biomics Research Group Department of Immunology Microbiology and Parasitology Faculty of Science and Technology University of the Basque Country Leioa Spain

Host Pathogen Interaction Study Group UNIV Angers UNIV Brest Angers France

Institute of Microbiology Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague Czech Republic

Institute of Microbiology Leopold Franzens University Innsbruck Austria

Instituto de Microbiologia UFRJ Rio de Janeiro RJ Brazil

Laboratoire de Parasitologie Mycologie AP HM CHU Timone Marseille France

Laboratoire de Parasitologie Mycologie CHU Angers France

Microbiology Department Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Spain

Microbiology Department Hospital Universitario Cruces Barakaldo Spain

Microbiology Department Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe Valencia Spain

Molecular Mycology Research Laboratory Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Westmead Clinical School Sydney Medical School Westmead Hospital Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity The University of Sydney Westmead Institute for Medical Research Sydney New South Wales Australia

Mycology Reference Laboratory National Centre for Microbiology Instituto de Salud Carlos 3 Majadahonda Madrid Spain

Mycology Unit Medical School and IISPV Universitat Rovira i Virgili Reus Spain

Mycotic and Parasitic Agents and Mycobacteria Robert Koch Institute Berlin Germany

Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute Utrecht The Netherlands

References provided by Crossref.org

Exploring the Siderophore Portfolio for Mass Spectrometry-Based Diagnosis of Scedosporiosis and Lomentosporiosis

Analysis of putative quadruplex-forming sequences in fungal genomes: novel antifungal targets?

Synthesis of the Hydroxamate Siderophore Nα-Methylcoprogen B in Scedosporium apiospermum Is Mediated by sidD Ortholog and Is Required for Virulence

Early and Non-invasive Diagnosis of Aspergillosis Revealed by Infection Kinetics Monitored in a Rat Model