Unit 16: Mycotic and Parasitic Agents and Mycobacteria

Project Leader:

Anton Aebischer

Deputy:

Volker Rickerts, Frank Seeber

This unit is concerned with issues regarding eukaryotic pathogens and non-tuberculous mycobacteria of Public Health relevance.

The focus is on the most prevalent endemic reportable parasitoses, systemic mycoses that are caused by endemic and "imported" fungi and infections with ubiquitous mycobacteria. Many of these microorganisms are widespread in the environment. They may cause diseases that are difficult to treat in predisposed subjects, including among others children and immunocompromised hosts.

Our activities aim at improving diagnosis, preventive and therapeutic options with respect to these infections and at contributing to a more accurate understanding of their epidemiology and pathogenic potential relevant for risk assessment.

Unit 16 also provides the Training Site Representative for the European Public Health Microbiology Training Programme (EUPHEM) of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the main supervisor for EUPHEM fellows.

Tasks, Services and Projects

• Editorial responsibility of the RKI’s information on parasitic and fungal and non-tuberculous mycobacterial pathogens
• Diagnostic services of the consultant laboratory for Cryptococcosis and rare systemic mycoses
• Molecular Epidemiology of Cryptococcosis
• Molecular detection of fungi in clinical specimens
• Mycobacterial infections: Molecular characterisation of the pathogens and the immune response of the host
• Molecular epidemiology, therapy resistance und pathogenesis of Giardiasis (Lambiliasis)
• New approaches to the therapy and diagnosis of Toxoplasmosis
• Pyrethroid resistance in head lice in Germany

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