Kodamaea ohmeri, An Emerging Yeast in Tunisia: First Identification in Three Case Reports and Literature Review

Background: Kodamaea ohmeri or Pichia ohmeri is relatively rare yeast that belongs to ascomycete group and Saccharomycetaceae family. It is recognized as an important pathogenic fungus in immunocompromised hosts. Methodology: Herein, we describe three cases where Kodamaea ohmeri was isolated in peripheral samples: nasal in one case and auricular in two cases. The identification was carried out by Vitek®2 YST ID card and confirmed by PCR sequencing. Susceptibility to antifungal was made by E-test. Results: These yeasts were identified K. ohmeri using phenotypic, biochemical and molecular methods. All isolates were susceptible for voriconazole and amphotericin B, resistant for caspofungin and susceptible-dose-dependent for Fluconazole. Conclusion: These are firsts cases reported in Tunisia which incites to pay more attention to the emergence of this yeast in human pathology since more it develops resistances to antifungals.