{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T01:28:33Z","timestamp":1792718913513,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,10]],"date-time":"2024-08-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1723248000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Fungal keratitis is a rare yet severe infection of the cornea. Fungal species distribution depends on the climate and socioeconomic status and can show regional variation. This retrospective single-center study was conducted at a tertiary eye care center and the collaborating Institute of Medical Microbiology in Switzerland. On investigating all fungal-positive corneal scrapings and contact lens assessments of patients with keratitis from January 2012 to December 2023, 206 patients were identified, of which 113 (54.9%) were female. The median age was 38 (IQR 29.8, [18\u201393]), and 154 (74.8%) applied contact lenses. The most commonly found pathogen was Candida spp., followed by Fusarium spp. Molds were 1.8 times more common than yeasts. Linear regression showed no significant increase or decrease in the infection rate over time (p = 0.5). In addition, 10 patients (4.9%) were found to have coinfections with Acanthamoeba, 11 (5.3%) with HSV-1, none with HSV-2, and 4 (1.9%) with VZV. This study provides a long-term overview of fungal-positive corneal scrapings and contact lens specimens of patients with fungal keratitis. Based on our results, coinfections with Acanthamoeba, HSV, and VZV are frequent, especially in patients wearing contact lenses. Thus, wearing contact lenses may facilitate coinfection in fungal keratitis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms12081637","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,12]],"date-time":"2024-08-12T05:19:38Z","timestamp":1723439978000},"page":"1637","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Long-Term Prevalence of Fungal Keratitis at a Swiss Tertiary Eye Clinic"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9957-9136","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anahita","family":"Bajka","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sadiq","family":"Said","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-5078-4349","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chantal","family":"Quiblier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1562-4583","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bettina","family":"Schulthess","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6222-0418","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ilana","family":"Reinhold","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniel","family":"Barthelmes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7431-1774","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sandrine Anne","family":"Zweifel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Frank","family":"Blaser","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"255","DOI":"10.1016\/j.survophthal.2018.12.003","article-title":"The persistent dilemma of microbial keratitis: Global burden, diagnosis, and antimicrobial resistance","volume":"64","author":"Ung","year":"2019","journal-title":"Surv. 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