Overview of Zygomycosis in Thailand

Zygomycosis is a rare fungal infection. It is noted sporadically throughout the world. In Thailand, this illness has been noted since 1978. We hereby present a retrospective study concerning the previous literatures regarding Zygomycosis in Thailand. According to this study, 27 cases of Zygomycosis of 15 literatures were studied retrospectively. Of these 27 cases, 16 were females and 11 were males. The average age was 38.5 + 18.1 years. In this study, 23 patients (85.2%) were infected with Mucorales and 4 patients were infected with Entomophthorales. Of the 23 cases with Mucorales infections, 16 patients (59.2%) were rhinocerebral, 3 patients (11.1%) were pulmonary, 3 patients (11.1%) were cutaneous and 1 patient (3.7%) was gastrointestinal. Of these 23 patients, 52.2% had DM, 17.4% had CRF, 17.4% had the history of non-steroid immunosuppressive drug use, 4.3% had the history of steroid use and 4.3% had prolonged antibiotic drug use. Of 13 Mucorales-the cases infected with adequate data for further analysis, 9 (69.2%) died. Concerning the left 4 patients (14.8%) with Entomophthorales infecions all had subcutaneous zygomycosis. None of these 4 cases died. In conclusion, the zygomycosis in Thai patients is similar to the prior reports. Nevertheless, However, we find a trend of female adult premodinance of infection.

Keywords: Mucormycosis, Thailand.