Species-specific antifungal activity of blue light.

ABSTRACT: Fungal pathogens represent a significant threat to immunocompromised patients or individuals with traumatic injury. Strategies to efficiently remove fungal spores from hospital surfaces and, ideally, patient skin thus offer the prospect of dramatically reducing infections in at-risk patients. Photodynamic inactivation of microbial cells using light holds considerable potential as a non-invasive, minimally destructive disinfection strategy. Recent data indicate that high-intensity blue light effectively removes bacteria from surfaces, but its efficacy against fungi has not been fully tested. Here we test a wide range of fungi that are pathogenic to humans and demonstrate that blue light is effective against some, but not all, fungal species. We additionally note that secondary heating effec

SUBMITTER: Trzaska WJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5496878 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature