A team of researchers from the Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS), the Universidad Santo Tomás (USTA)-Bucaramanga and the Hospital Universitario de Santander (HUS), published the first report of the discovery in Colombia of the yeast Lodderomyces elongisporus in humans. The microorganism was isolated from clinical samples of two patients hospitalized in the intensive care units of the HUS.
This important finding is part of the project entitled “Development of a personalized medicine strategy for the preventive management, diagnosis and treatment of candidiasis in adult intensive care units in the metropolitan area of Bucaramanga”, funded by the Ministry of Science, Sustainable Technology and Innovation (code 1102-897-86269), and led by Professor Clara Inés Sánchez Suárez, from the School of Microbiology of the UIS.
In addition to representing the first record of this microorganism in the country, the results are clinically relevant, since colonization by L. elongisporus can be associated with serious infections. This shows the need to strengthen microbiological surveillance systems, implement accurate diagnostic techniques to avoid misidentification, and reinforce hospital infection control.
Professors Luz Helena Sánchez Rodríguez, Olga Marcela Medina Pérez, Laura Viviana Herrera Sandoval and Claudia Ivonne García González (School of Microbiology), Agustín Vega Vera (Department of Internal Medicine) and Marisela Márquez Herrera (School of Nursing) participated on behalf of the UIS. Other contributors were María Carolina Gutiérrez Galvis and Edimerk Mauricio Gil Güiza (Master’s Degree in Microbiology), students of the Master’s Degrees in Microbiology and Basic Biomedical Sciences, and graduates of the Microbiology and Bioanalysis program.
The results can be consulted in the article published in the American Journal of Infection Control: Gutiérrez Galvis et al., 2025 First report of Lodderomyces elongisporus identification in intensive care unit patients in Colombia. American Journal of Infection Control. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2025.06.018
