Mycobiota of the air in hospital rooms and the fungal colonisation of tracheostomy tubes used by patients diagnosed with larynx cancer--preliminary research.

A tracheotomy tube, as well as the stoma through which it is inserted into the patient's throat, may represent a potential risk of fungal infections for patients suffering from larynx cancer. The study was aimed at evaluating the influence of the hospital room environment on the fungal colonisation of tracheotomy tubes in the case of patients diagnosed with larynx cancer and operated on in the Laryngology ward. The mycological research was carried out in the rooms of the Laryngology ward, from which 105 air samples were collected. Twenty-two Portex and metal tracheostomy tubes collected from 13 patients diagnosed with larynx cancer. Fungi were cultured on 15 tracheostomy tubes: moulds were isolated from 3 of these tubes, and fungi belonging to the genus Candida from the remaining 12. The simultaneous occurrence of the same moulds in the air and on the tracheotomy tubes was observed only in one case (Aspergillus flavus). In conclusion, the same moulds observed in the air can sometimes also be found on the tracheotomy tubes used by patients diagnosed with larynx cancer. Yeast-like fungi are isolated from tracheotomy tubes much more frequently than moulds, and this requires further mycological research.