Multilocus Sequence Typing Reveals a New Cluster of Closely Related Genotypes in Italian Patients With Neurological Disorders.

is a pathogenic yeast that has emerged as an important cause of candidemia especially in elderly patients with hematological malignancies. Infections caused by this species are mainly reported from Latin America and Asian-Pacific countries although recent epidemiological data revealed that accounts for 6-16.4% of the bloodstream infections (BSIs) in Italy by representing a relevant issue especially for patients receiving long-term hospital care. The aim of this study was to describe the genetic diversity of isolates contaminating the hands of healthcare workers (HCWs) and hospital environments and/or associated with BSIs occurring in patients with different neurological disorders and without hematological disease. A total of 28 isolates were genotyped using multilocus sequence typing analysis of six housekeeping (, and ) genes and data revealed the presence of only eight diploid sequence types (DSTs) of which 6 (75%) were completely new. Four eBURST clonal complexes (CC2, CC10, CC11, and CC33) contained all DSTs found in this study and the CC33 resulted in an exclusive, well-defined, clonal cluster from Italy. In conclusion, could represent an important cause of BSIs in long-term hospitalized patients with no underlying hematological disease. The findings of this study also suggest a potential horizontal transmission of a specific clone through hands of HCWs and expand our understanding of the molecular epidemiology of this pathogen whose population structure is still far from being fully elucidated as its complexity increases as different categories of patients and geographic areas are examined.