BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Parasite and Host
Identification of the Emerging Fungal Pathogens in Brazilian Children Infected by Giardia lamblia
Provisionally accepted
Carolline Soares Motta Pereira1,2
Maria Fantinatti3
Barbara De Oliveira Baptista4
Gisela Lara Costa4
Manoel Marques Evangelista de Oliveira4*
Wilson Savino2,5Alda Maria Da-Cruz1,2- 1Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Medical Research, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 2Brazilian National Institute of Science and Technology on Neuroimmunomodulation, INOVA-IOC Network on Neuroimmunomodulation, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 3Parasitology Subject, Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 4Laboratory of Taxonomy, Biochemistry and Bioprospecting of Fungi, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 5Laboratory on Thymus Research, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Giardia lamblia is the most prevalent intestinal protozoan in Brazilian children and has been associated with alterations in the gut microbiota. While bacterial dysbiosis in giardiasis has been well studied, little is known about the associated fungal communities. This study aimed to investigate whether Giardia infection predisposes preschool children to the emergence of fungal pathogens and to identify which pathogenic fungi coexist in the intestines of Giardia-infected preschoolers. Stool samples from children aged 1–4 years living in a low-income community in Rio de Janeiro were analyzed by PCR for Giardia and subjected to fungal isolation and identification using MALDI-TOF MS and ITS sequencing. Among 25 samples, 13 were Giardia-positive, and 10 of these harbored Candida parapsilosis, with co-occurrence of C. tropicalis and C. krusei in some cases. Saccharomyces cerevisiae was also detected. This is the first report of C. parapsilosis, C. krusei, and S. cerevisiae in Giardia-infected children. The high frequency of C. parapsilosis raises the possibility of a synergistic interaction between protozoan and fungal infections in vulnerable pediatric populations.
Keywords: Giardia lamblia, preschoolers, Fungal microbiota, intestinal pathologies, Candida parapsilosis
Received: 16 Jul 2025; Accepted: 26 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Motta Pereira, Fantinatti, De Oliveira Baptista, Costa, Evangelista de Oliveira, Savino and Da-Cruz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Manoel Marques Evangelista de Oliveira
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