Fusarium infection in burned patients

The incidence of fungal infections of burn wounds is increasing because of the dramatic improvement in antibacterial chemotherapy and burn wound care. Species of Fusarium, common soil fungi and plant pathogens, are rarely isolated from burn wounds, and invasive disease due to these organisms is also rare. Therefore, a case of burn wound infection with dissemination due to F. oxysporum is reported; three other cases of burn wound colonization by Fusarium sp. are also reported. The literature on fungal infections of burn wounds is reviewed, and the importance of combined histologic and mycologic studies in the evaluation of such wounds is discussed.